View this email in your browser.

EUROPEAN COMPOST NETWORK
ECN e.V.

Network for Organic Resources and Biological Treatment

ECN E-BULLETIN No. 12_2025

17 december 2025

Season's Greetings from the ECN Team

European Commission | Bioeconomy

Adoption of the EU Bioeconomy Strategy

The Commission presented on 27 November its new Bioeconomy Strategy, aimed at boosting sustainable bio-based materials and technologies to reduce EU’s dependencies on fossil-based products and contribute to climate and environmental goals. It identifies several bio-based lead markets for materials, including plastics and fertilising products, and for technologies such as biorefineries.
The Strategy refers to bio-waste as a secondary and circular feedstock which can contribute to reduce the use of primary biomass. The Commission commits to supporting its collection and valorisation through the upcoming Circular Economy Act. It will also support biogas and biomethane production valorising bio-waste and enabling the use of digestate as bio-based fertilising products through a Tripartite Agreement, from 2026.
The text mentions the use of carbon credits in primary production through carbon farming and permanent carbon removals as a way to reward good practices in rural areas.

EU Commission I Simplification I 10 December 2025

Simplification of Administrative Burdens in Environmental Legislation

The Commission adopted a Communication – Simplifying for competitiveness, together with an “environmental omnibus package”.

As part of the package, the Commission proposed amendments to the Industrial and Livestock Rearing Emissions Directive (IED) relating to Environmental Management Systems (EMS) for operators (includ-ing those involved in composting and anaerobic digestion).
The IED will be simplified for companies, enabling EMS to be prepared at company level rather than per installation.
Further information on all relevant documents here: LINK
The press release is available here: LINK

European Commission | Critical Raw Materials

Adoption of the RESourceEU Action Plan

On 3 December, the Commission adopted the RESourceEU Action Plan, a communication aiming to accelerate and amplify efforts to secure the EU’s supply of critical raw materials (CRMs). This Action Plan will mobilise policy tools, private and public actors to accelerate the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act, preserve and expand the production of primary and secondary CRMs, reduce the EU’s dependencies and diversify CRMs supply chains, with a focus on raw materials deemed strategic for competitiveness, transition and defence.
The Action Plan includes measures to enhance the circularity of CRMs, including the presentation, by Q2 2026, of an action plan to enabl e recycled nutrients for fertilisers.

Feedback on ECN project

LIFE BIOBEST project | Final assessment report

The project consortium recently received the feedback of the last project period in form of the final assessment report from CINEA, the EU’s executive agency, which provided positive feedback on the last project period. The project has fully achieved its objectives, milestones, outputs and outcomes. This feedback confirms the project’s completion.

The ECN is planning to exploit the project's outcomes further in targeted activities for 2026.

All outcomes can be founde here: LINK

German Federal Environment Agency

Report and Guideline to improve Biowaste Collection

The German Federal Environment Agency has published a report and a guideline aimed at improving the collection of biowaste. The publication investigates the effectiveness of waste counselling, control and sanction mechanisms, as well as other measures designed to increase the quantity, share and purity of separately collected biowaste across different settlement structures.
The publication consists of two parts:

Identification of best practice mechanisms, measures and instruments that have proven effective in achieving high quantities and quality in separate biowaste collection. For this report, a Scientific Officer contributed information from the LIFE BIOBEST project and from his PhD research. The report is available here.
Development of a guideline based on the report’s findings, providing specific measures to improve the quantity and quality of separately collected biowaste, taking into account various local circumstances. The guideline can be accessed here.

News from ECN Members

20th anniversary of Organic Recovery Plant

LIPOR celebrates 20 years of high-quality compost production

LIPOR, ECN associate member from Porto, Portugal, celebrates this year the 20th anniversary of its Organic Recovery Plant, marking two decades of commitment to the circular economy and to returning valuable organic matter back to soils.

Since the start of operations, the facility has received more than 915 000 tonnes of separately collected biowaste (food and green waste), transforming it into high-value products for agriculture and horticulture. Over this period, the Plant has produced 159 000 tonnes of NUTRIMAIS composts and growing media, recognised in the market for enhancing soil fertility, improving water retention and supporting microbial biodiversity.

The Organic Recovery Plant works in close connection with the Green Waste Park and the Cemetery Green Waste Sorting Platform, ensuring high-quality input materials through rigorous selection and preprocessing of green waste. Using controlled in-vessel/tunnel composting technology, LIPOR ensures the production of stable, safe and reliable compost that meets the requirements of circular and sustainable farming.

LIPOR continues to invest in research and development to develop new products from biomaterials, optimise its processes and maintain high quality standards, ensuring that each tonne produced aligns with the needs of the agricultural sector.

As LIPOR highlights, “20 years of returning to Nature” reflects not only an anniversary, but a long-term commitment to circularity, innovation and the continuous regeneration of our soils.

Events

Euro-MED CirBioWaste project | Webinar | 16 January 2026, 11:00

Models for an efficient bio-waste management at EU and local level

The project webinar focusses on a collaborative effort to identify and promote effective bio-waste management models across the Mediterranean. The programme and registration link can be found here. The webinar includes parallel break-out sessions in the project partners’ languages to attract practitioners: Greek, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Catalan and Portuguese.

MANURESOURCE 2026 | 4-5 March 2026

Conference on Manure Management

ManuREsource is the leading European conference on manure management and nutrient recovery. The central theme is manure as a resource, with a strong focus on innovation, sustainability, and knowledge exchange between European regions in policy and technology for manure processing.

The conference will take place on 4 and 5 March 2026 at the De Reehorst Congress Centre in Ede/Wageningen, the Netherlands. On Friday 6 March 2026, there will be an optional excursion offering exclusive visits to local manure processing facilities - a unique opportunity to experience innovation in practice. Register now to benefit from the Early Bird rate, available until 31 December 2025.

You can register here: LINK

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.