EUROPEAN COMPOST NETWORK
ECN e.V.

Network for Organic Resources and Biological Treatment

ECN E-BULLETIN No. 6_2025

26 JUNE 2025

ECN 2025 Annual Meeting

Members of ECN came together in Brussels

On 4 June, ECN welcomed its members from across Europe to Brussels for its 2025 Annual Meeting. The event provided an important platform for dialogue and collaboration on the future of biowaste management in Europe and led strategic discussions on the central role of ECN in promoting sustainable biowaste treatment practices, advocating for favourable legislation and fostering innovation.
It was held in conjunction with the final LIFE BIOBEST event.

The Annual Meeting also saw the election of new members of the Board, as well the re-election of the Chair and Vice-Chair. The new composition of the ECN Board is as follows:

Kristel Vandenbroek (2022) (Vlaco, BE), re-elected as Chair of ECN.
Massimo Centemero (2022) (CIC, IT), re-elected as Vice-Chair of ECN.
Irmgard Leifert (VHE, DE).
Tony Breton (Cré, IE).
David Wilken (BGK, DE).
Vedran Šarić (CCPA, HR), newly elected.
Sanne Kaasjager (BVOR & DWMA, NL), newly elected.
Turid Neby Berge (Grønn Vekst, NO), newly elected.
Telmo Machado (Lipor, PT), newly elected.

We would like to thank all of our former Board Members for their work in the last years, Susana Lopes Libor, PT), Arjen Brinkmann (BVOR, NL), Jens Måge (Avfall Norge, NO) and Horst Müller (KBVÖ, AT).

European Commission | Fertilising Products Regulation

Open consultation on the evaluation of the Fertilising Products Regulation until 11 September

The European Commission launched a call for evidence and a public consultation on the evaluation of the Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) until 11 September.
The FPR provides that by July 2026, the Commission should conduct an evaluation of the Regulation, which came into force in 2022. The purpose of this evaluation is to consider whether the Fertilising Products Regulation has been delivering on its objectives since its entry into application and to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Other consultations should be organised, especially an interview programme and two stakeholder workshops.
You can find the open consultation here: link.

Tariffs on imported nitrogen-based fertilisers

The new tariffs will enter into force on 1st July 2025

After being endorsed by the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission’s proposal to impose new tariffs on certain agricultural products from Russia and Belarus, including nitrogen-based fertilisers, has been published in the Official Journal of the EU on 20 June. The Regulation provides for a 6.5% tariff on fertilisers and for a duty of 40€ as of 1st July 2025. The duty will gradually increase every year until 315€ in 2028.
To address farmers’ concerns, the Commission has committed to monitor fertiliser prices from 21 June 2025 and in the event that the price levels exceed the 2024 price levels, it will take all appropriate actions such as the temporary suspension of tariffs for fertilisers imported from countries other than Russia and Belarus.

European Commission | Water Resilience Strategy

Presentation by the Commission of a Water Resilience Strategy

On 4 June, the European Commission presented its Strategy on Water Resilience to enhance water security. Non-binding, this text sets the vision to make Europe water resilient by 2050 and sets a target to improve water efficiency by at least 10% until 2030, but not for water reduction. Alongside the Strategy, the Commission developed Recommendation on Water Efficiency First which encourages Member States to focus primarily on reducing water demand. In the Strategy, the Commission announces the launch of an Assistance Toolbox to support Member States in their actions to reduce nutrients pollution. The Commission will also continue to support improved and integrated nutrient management, contribute to fund manure storage facilities, and promote nutrients circularity to help reducing the use of synthetic fertilisers. But the Commission does not pave the way for a revision of the Nitrates Directive. Member States should also promote water resilient farming practices. Regarding PFAS contamination, the Commission proposes remediation measures, but not to tackle them at source.
The Commission will now start implementing flagship actions as set out in the Strategy and will monitor the progress of the Recommendation on Water Efficiency.

European Parliament | Soil Monitoring Law

Approval by the ENVI Committee of the agreement on the Soil Monitoring Law

On 4 June, the ENVI Committee of the Parliament adopted at a large majority the provisional agreement reached in trilogue on the Soil Monitoring Law. The Directive must now be formally approved by the Council and by the Parliament in plenary, most likely in autumn.

Council of the EU | Danish presidency

Publication of the Programme of the Danish EU presidency

Copenhagen, which will hold the presidency of the Council of the EU from 1 July until 31 December 2025, has presented the priorities for its mandate. It indicates that it will prioritise negotiations on specific texts, including the EU 2040 climate target, and that it will focus on political discussions on the upcoming EU Bioeconomy Strategy. It states it is ready to start the negotiations on the CAP post-2027 and will initiate discussions on the EU's environmental policy towards 2030 in the light of the European Environment Agency's report on Europe's Environment 2025. It also commits to adopting conclusions on the European Water Resilience Strategy.

New ECN Project Officer

ECN welcomes Olivier Labrie

ECN is delighted to introduce its latest addition to the team in the role of Project Officer in Agriculture. Olivier is a Climate and Agricultural Specialist with a MSc in Natural Resources Management & Development, focusing on sustainable and ecological agriculture.

He looks forward to connecting with members and partners to support efforts that close the loop in the organic and food cycle.
He first walked on agricultural land in northern Alberta while scouting grain and oilseed fields in 2012 as an agronomy assistant, and later while working on and visiting an array of farms in Canada and Germany. Along the way, his academic path took him from botany at the University of Manitoba, to agro-ecology at McGill, and then to sustainable resource management through an international Master’s at TH Köln. With an interest in complex systems, Olivier has also worked in the field of sustainable sourcing of natural textile fibres.

At ECN, he’s eager to explore how compost and digestate can support resilient soils and productive farming, while learning from and working alongside the ECN team, members, facility managers and regional farmers to shape meaningful, collaborative projects.

LIFE BIOBEST | Final event in Brussels on 05 June 2025

Pioneering solutions and best practices for bio-waste management in Europe showcased during final LIFE BIOBEST event

All guidelines published, the end of the project ahead. This called for a final event no other than in Brussels itself. The final LIFE BIOBEST event, organised as an official EU Green Week partner event, gathered over 60 participants in Brussels. The event brought together representatives from European Union institutions; regional, and local officials; waste company representatives; civil society organisations and academia working on bio-waste management.

The event summarised the key outputs of all LIFE BIOBEST activities and publications, including best practice cases and key policy frameworks enabling frontrunners to their performances. Some of these frontrunners were invited to a podium discussion on various aspects of the value chain of biowaste management, highlighting the benefits of their local conditions towards best practices.

Sylvie Grajales, Policy Officer on bio-waste at DG ENV, European Commission, said: ”Bio-waste has been a big focus of EU policy in recent years. As the biggest component of municipal waste (34%), Member States cannot reach recycling targets without tackling bio-waste first. LIFE BIOBEST showed there is potential for more collection of bio-waste (and of better quality); more production of compost and digestate; and more uptake of output products from bio-waste recycling plants. The European Commission will help disseminate LIFE BIOBEST results across Member States.”

One of the most important materials born out of LIFE BIOBEST was the recently published Comprehensive Guidance for effective bio-waste management in the EU, with key policy recommendations to help close the gap between current practices and potential capture rates – addressing the fact that only 26% of kitchen waste is currently collected separately in the EU. A summary of this document is available in various languages. A summary video presenting the key recommendations and measures of the LIFE BIOBEST project is available with subtitles in 11 EU languages.

The ECN would like to thank its members for their invaluable contribution to the project in the past years.

LIFE BIOBEST | Webinar on biowaste quality on 23 May 2025

Bio-waste quality as a driver for high-quality compost and digestate

The LIFE BIOBEST project organised a webinar on biowaste quality, marking the last online event of the project.

This webinar highlighted existing approaches to bio-waste quality assessment at national and regional levels, focusing on established quality standards and methodologies applied before the treatment process. Practical examples from Germany, Italy, and Catalonia (Spain) were explored.

A recording of the event and the presentations can be found here.

Circular Economy Act

ECN position paper

While the Circular Economy Act is being drawn up, ECN has prepared 11 key policy recommendations aimed at improving the circularity of biowaste management in Europe.
Our policy recommendations include:

Supporting the implementation of an efficient separate collection of municipal and non-municipal bio-waste.
Introducing a mandatory End-of-Waste status for compost and digestate at EU level.
Incentivising the use of compost and digestate on soils.
Considering sludges from the food processing industry as biowaste.

Find our position paper here: link.
The Circular Economy Act is expected to be published by 2026 and a public consultation should be opened soon.

Bioeconomy Strategy

ECN position paper

In response to the public consultation on the Bioeconomy Strategy, ECN has published a position paper advocating for the recognition of biowaste recycling as a bioeconomy activity. In ECN’s views, clear and effective bio-waste management policy should be implemented at European level. Therefore, the Bioeconomy Strategy should mainly focus on creating markets for secondary raw materials and unlocking new investments, lifting regulatory barriers, and improving acceptance of the use of recycled biobased material in agriculture.
You can find our position paper here: link.
The update of the Bioeconomy Strategy should be presented by the Commission by the end of the year.

Events

KBVÖ I 8 September 2025

9th International Practitioners' Day for Composting

Following the success of previous International Practitioner Days, the Austrian Compost and Biogas Association invites you to the 9th edition at Erdbau Winkler GmbH in Hartberg, Styria. This event showcases innovations, trends, and visions in composting. With around 404 composting plants in Austria processing 1.56 million tons of biogenic waste annually, new technologies are advancing through partnerships between plant operators and technology suppliers. Leading companies will present mobile shredding machines, and the latest tech in turning, screening, measuring, and more. This event is for plant operators, waste handlers, farmers, contractors, and anyone involved in composting.

More information here.

S.O.S Save Organics in Soil

This international initiative S.O.S. SOIL – Save Organics in Soil, led by the European Compost Network (ECN) and the Italian Composting and Biogas Association (CIC), aims to highlight the importance of soil organic matter to encourage policy makers to develop instruments to move Europe towards implementing sustainable, climate proof soil management practices.

Sign the manifesto 'Save Organigs in Soil' here.