1 Introduction and organic waste situation

In Austria a total amount of app. 33 Mio tonnes organic waste, by products and industrial residues constitute the potential for direct reuse, material recycling or organic treatment, through composting, anaerobic digestion, mechanical biological co-treatment etc. Only about 11 % (3.7 Mio tonnes) may be addressed as organic wastes in a narrower sense for biological waste treatment.

2 Legal framework for the organic waste stream and the compost production

The New Austrian Compost Ordinance (2001)
Before going into the examination of the specified areas concerned it has to be mentioned that the Austrian Ordinance on quality requirements of composts from wastes (Compost Ordinance, FLG II Nr. 292/2001) enacted 1st September 2001with a transition period until 1 April 2002 has become the central and comprehensive legal instrument laying down standardised, nationwide rules concerning the production, marketing and labelling of compost as a PRODUCT.
It defines different quality classes of compost and includes detailed rules on the raw materials that are introduced into the product, exact specifications on safeguarding the quality of the finished product and labelling requirements for compost ensuring that the consumer is provided with specific information on how to use the compost in a safe and environmentally sound way.
The Compost Ordinance not only refers to the compost produced from separately collected biowaste (organic waste), but also to compost obtained from sewage sludge and from municipal solid waste (after removal of harmful waste materials).
The ordinance defines three different quality classes for compost based on the contaminant content (see attached details):

• Class A+ (top quality; limit values taken from Council Regulation
• Class A (high quality; suitable for use in agriculture) for food production areas
• Class B (minimum quality; suitable for non-agricultural use) for non-food areas

Basically compost must be labelled as "Compost". In order to mark composts processed from high quality source materials, the ordinance allows the following terms:

• Quality Compost class A+ suitable for use in organic production of agricultural products
• Quality Compost class A produced from separately collected organic waste
• Quality Sewage Sludge Compost produced from good quality sewage sludge and separately collected organic waste)
• Bark Compost (produced exclusively from bark)
• Municipal Solid Waste Compost which is compost derived from non-hazardous household waste and similar commercial waste. It can not be marketed freely.

2. Treatment of organic waste

About 400,000 t of biowaste and 200.000 t of green waste have been collected and treated separately in the year 2000. 770,000 tonnes are estimated for home composting resp. on-farm composting. The remaining potential of about 200,000 tonnes bio- and green waste is still to be found in the "grey" bin and or is treated on privately owned property or non-registered facilities.

Composting
On one hand about 7 % of the Austrian composting plants cover more than 50 % of the total capacities on the other hand there exists a large number of small scale composting plants (44% have a capacity of < 500 t/year and represent 6 % of the total throughput capacity) which demonstrates the decentralised structure of organic waste management in Austria and the treatment in the 461 compost facilities. 344 Agricultural Composting Plants cover a total capacity of 271,000 tonnes of biowaste per year. This is about 34 % of the overall capacity of the Austrian registered composting plants.

Anaerobic digestion
In Austria there are 3 industrial biogas plants for organic household waste with a total capacity of 45,000 t (12,000, 13,000 and 20,000 tonnes respectively).
In the past 4 years the number of agricultural anaerobic digestion plants has grown by 100 % up to 120. The majority processes liquid manure (slurry). A minor proportion belongs to agricultural co-fermentation facilities with no more than 30 % of external organic by-products and residues. Recent developments indicate that future facilities will be constructed with increased capacities up to 100 kW. Mid- and long-term predictions assume about 3.000 to 6.000 co-digestion plants.

Biological-Mechanical-Pretreatment
Between 10 and 12 large MBT-Plants treat organic waste prior to landfills in Austria.

4. Compost Quality and Assurance in Austria

In Austria recently s series of standards and technical guidelines have been published which establish common requirements for an external quality assurance scheme. These are:
ÖNORM S 2206-1: Requirements for a quality assurance scheme for the production of composts – Part 1: Principles for quality assurance of a company and of the internal technical processes
ÖNORM S 2206-1: Requirements for a quality assurance scheme for composts – Part 2: Determination of tasks and conditions for a quality assurance organisation
ONR 192206 Technical Guideline: Implementation of quality assurance on composting plants Up to now two non-profit associations have adopted these standards for granting a compliance certification with the QAS. :

the Compost Quality Society of Austria (KGVÖ) 
the Compost & Biogas Association – Austria (ARGE Kompost & Biogas – Österreich)

Under the roof of COMPOST QUALITY SOCIETY OF AUSTRIA (KGVÖ) large scale compost producers supplemented by experts, related companies and organisations are associated with the aim, to establish a quality seal for the marketing of composts on the basis on an officially acknowledged quality assurance scheme.

 Table 1: Compost plants and through put associated in the Austrian Compost Quality Society

The Agricultural composting associations were in a first step founded with the aim to establish the decentralised composting of separately collected biowaste in cooperation with agriculture level (on-farm composting) and representing the interests vis-à-vis involved parties, responsible authorities and the public. Nowadays the association has grown towards a full-scale Quality assurance organisation on the basis of the common Austrian standards.

Table 2: Figures on agricultural composting of source separated biowaste in Austria (2008)

The certification schemes comprise both, operational process and quality management and final product approval. Thereby the most important reference is the requirements set by the Austrian Compost Ordinance which provides for a comprehensive documentation and monitoring programme.

The scheme for the quality assurance consists of measures relay on the Austrian Compost Ordinance as well as the Austrian Guideline State of the Art of Composting issued by the Ministry of Environment. The external sample taking and approval of the compost product is performed by an independent authorised or accredited laboratory which must comply with the requirements of Annex 5 of the Austrian Compost Ordinance regarding its competence and experience in compost analyses and sampling procedures. Above all, the composting plants are undergoing a regular inspection on behalf of the Quality Assurance Organisation QAO. The control system is based on several levels:

Documentation
All the members are obliged to maintain their own records (operation book). The book should contain
• type and quantities of the material received
• quantity of sorted waste (impurities) that is excluded from composting during the input control and after screening
• exact documentation of the rotting process (temperature, moisture etc.) - measurements to be taken at least once a week
• amount of compost produced
• quantities of compost as applied on single plots of the agricultural land

5. Contacts and sources of information

Kompostgüteverband Österreich KGVÖ
Geschäftsstelle
Hauptstr. 34
A-4675 Weibern

Tel.: +43-7732-2091-0*
Fax: +43-7732-2091-4

E-Mail1: office@tb-mueller.at, E-Mail2:horst.mueller@tb-mueller.at

Kompost - Entwicklung & Beratung
Dipl.Ing. Florian Amlinger
Hochbergstr. 3
A-2380 Perchtoldsdorf

Tel.: +43 (0) 1 8656084
Fax: +43 (0) 1 8656084-2
Mobil: +43 (0) 664 5308550

Email: f.amlinger@kabsi.at

ARGE Kompost & Biogas Österreich
Austrian Compost & Biogas Association
Mr. Tulnik Robert
Franz-Josefs-Kai 1
A- 1010 Wien
Österreich / Austria
Tel.: +43 664 5433 440
Fax: +43 189 0152 215

Email: buero@kompost-biogas.info
Internet: www.kompost-biogas.info
Internet: www.biogas.klimaaktiv.at