|
EUROPEAN COMPOST NETWORK ECN e.V.
|
Network for Organic Resources and Biological Treatment
|
|
|
|
|
ECN E-BULLETIN No. 10_2024
|
|
|
|
|
LIFE BIOBEST Project I Event in Pruszcz GdaĆski, Poland
|
Presentation of Guidelines on best practices in bio-waste management
|
|
|
|
The conference aims to provide concrete insights into the current state of bio-waste management in Poland and promote improved municipal performance by showcasing best practices from across Europe at both national and regional levels. Invited presenters and panellists will share their challenges and successes in communicating new requirements to citizens, effectively encouraging long-term behavioural changes and engagement. The event will also feature the recently launched LIFE BIOBEST guidelines based on the experiences of Europe’s top performers in bio-waste management.
|
Experts from the LIFE BIOBEST project will present guidelines on selective bio-waste collection, governance, economic incentives, compost and digestate production, as well as communication and engagement practices, highlighting EU best practices.
|
- Elected officials and technicians from Polish municipalities launching or looking to improve their bio-waste collection systems and overcome barriers and local challenges;
- Waste management companies, civil society organisations, and academia working in bio-waste management.
The sessions will be in Polish, with a few presentations done in English (translated into Polish).
|
Participation is free of charge; travel and accommodation costs must be covered by participants.
|
More information on the event: Link
|
Conference programme: Link
|
|
|
|
|
Kick-off of the interinstitutional negotiations
|
On 21 October, the EMVI Committee of the Parliament adopted the mandate to enter trilogue negotiations on the Soil Monitoring Law and the next day, a kick-off meeting was held.
|
|
During this short introductory session, the Parliament’s rapporteurs Martin Hojsik (Renew, SK) and Maria Noichl (S&D, DE) met the negotiators from the Hungarian Council Presidency. Technical meetings will be organised in the coming weeks, and the discussions could start on the easier topics before addressing the more difficult ones in mid-November.
|
Both the Parliament and the Council have watered down the Commission’s initial proposal so the final text could lack ambition.
|
|
|
|
|
News from the European Commission
|
A Circular Economy Act to come
|
According to her mission letter, the Commissioner-designate for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, will be responsible for drawing up the Circular Economy Act announced by Ursula von der Leyen in July. She will lead this file together with the Executive Vice President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, Stéphane Séjourné. The aim is to create demand on the market for secondary raw materials and establish a single market for waste, notably in relation to critical raw materials. But the form this act will take remains unclear.
|
Jessika Roswall will also be responsible for updating the 2012 Bioeconomy Strategy. A public consultation should open before the end of the year.
|
|
|
|
|
EEA Green Claims Directive
|
The fight against greenwashing
|
The EU is addressing the issue of greenwashing—where companies make misleading environmental claims—by proposing new regulations on green claims. Consumers currently face difficulty understanding environmental labels, and some claims are unreliable, reducing trust. The proposed directive, introduced by the European Commission on March 22, 2023, would require companies to provide verifiable and comparable evidence to support their green claims, improving trust and informed decision-making.
|
The proposal on green claims aims to
|
- make green claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU
- protect consumers from greenwashing
- contribute to creating a circular and green EU economy by enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions
- help establish a level playing field when it comes to environmental performance of products
|
|
|
|
Potential Emissions Trading System for agriculture
|
EEB proposal for addressing emissions from agriculture
|
The EEB published in October a paper outlining opportunities, risks and challenges associated with an Emissions Trading System for agriculture (Agri ETS) and sets out recommendations.
|
|
In September, the final report published under the Strategic Dialogue on the future of EU agriculture called on the Commission and stakeholders to further assess the feasibility and relevance of an Agri ETS. Such a system would put a price on emissions from the agri-food sector and introduce an emissions cap that would decrease every year. The EEB does not call for a single ETS system covering all agricultural emissions but proposes to tackle the most relevant emissions like the livestock emissions or the emissions from the application of synthetic fertilisers on agricultural lands. Including the later would make synthetic fertiliser producers accountable for the emissions resulting from the application of their products, and not only from their production as it is currently the case. The EEB believes that it will effectively increase the production cost of synthetic fertilisers and provide a strong incentive for farmers to use them more efficiently or to substitute them. However, the EEB recommends that emission reductions and removals or land carbon sequestration should be kept out of an Agri ETS.
|
|
|
|
|
Europe’s state of water – the need for improved water resilience
|
On 15 October, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a new report on the state of Europe's waters. According to the report, the EU is failing to meet its targets for improving the status of water bodies under the Water Framework Directive.
|
|
|
|
The EEA outlines three overarching challenges for future water management in Europe:
|
|
|
|
- protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems;
- achieving the zero pollution ambition;
- adapting to water scarcity, drought and flood risks.
|
|
|
The EEA stresses that the most significant driver impacting the quality of both surface and groundwaters is the intensive use of nutrients and pesticides in agricultural production. Agriculture is also by far the highest net water consumer in Europe and, without changes in practices, demand from irrigated agriculture is likely to increase with climate change.
|
In terms of pollution where agriculture is a major contributor, between 2013 and 2024, 10-25% of all surface water monitoring sites reported to the EEA detected one or more pesticides above their effect threshold. Similarly, average nitrate concentrations in groundwater have not been reduced between 2000 and 2021.
|
Finally, the report calls for better water management, stressing that current European practices are poorly adapted to climate change events and that there is an urgent need to improve water resilience.
|
The EEA report 07/2024 ‘Europe's state of water 2024: the need for improved water resilience’ can be downloaded here
|
|
|
|
|
|
World Soil Day I 05 December 2024
|
Save the date for World Soil Day!
|
The ECN is excited to celebrate the world soil day with a webinar. The 2024 theme is “Caring for Soils: Measure, Monitor, Manage,” highlighting the vital role of accurate soil data in understanding our ecosystems and making sustainable decisions.
|
Stay tuned for the program!
|
|
|
|
|
|
RAMIRAN 2025 I 15-17 October
|
Call for Abstracts for RAMIRAN 2025
|
|
|
RAMIRAN stands for “The Recycling of Agricultural, Municipal and Industrial Residues in Agriculture Network”. The conference will focus on the management of organic residues and manures in agriculture. In the context of climate change and environmental pressure, safe and sustainable utilisation of existing and emerging organic resources becomes increasingly important, as is taking into account potential trade-offs or synergies. The conference will address the many facets of their application in agriculture.
|
If you are interested in contributing, abstract submissions for the 2025 edition will open in December 2024. For more details you can check this website, sign up for the newsletter, or contact ramiran2025@wur.nl.
|
|
|
|
|
ECOMONDO I Rimini- Italy I 5-11 November 2025
|
Composting and Anaerobic Digestion at ECOMONDO
|
|
|
Ecomondo is the key event for green and circular economy in Europe. The biowaste sector will be represented by CIC, the Italian Composting and Biogas Association, at a joint booth with ECN in Hall D3 206 -307.
|
|
|
|
Ecomondo is the meeting place where industry groups, stakeholders, policy makers, opinion leaders, local authorities, research bodies and institutions come together and set the key elements that define the strategies for the development of EU environmental policy.
|
|
|
|
Digestion organized by Ecomondo STC & CIC (Italian Composting Consortium), ISPRA (Italian Institute for Environmental Pro) will be held.
|
The full programme of ECOMONDO can be accessed here.
|
|
|
|
|
Compost Congress I Wieselburg I 6-7 November 2024
|
2nd Austrian Compost Congress
|
|
|
|
The congress is organized by the Compost and Biogas Association of Austria. Once again, you can look forward to engaging presentations and discussions on the following topics:
|
|
|
|
- What’s happening with laws and standards in the compost sector?
- What’s driving the industry? (Compost quality)
- What role does compost play as a carbon sink?
- What is the value of compost? (Practical reports)
|
|
|
|
BGK Germany I 8-7 November 2024
|
Annual meeting & Humus Day 2024
|
The BGK annual meeting with the Humus Day and the general meeting will take place this year on November 07 and 08, 2024 in Augsburg.
|
The Humus Day, the kick-off event of the BGK Annual Meeting, will be held in the hall of the State Textile and Industrial Museum in Augsburg.
|
This year, BGK has succeeded in attracting speakers on the current topics:
|
- Importance of European and National Emission Trading Schemed for the biowaste sector;
- Deployment of the organic scouts for the separate collection of biowaste in Ludwigsburg;
- Impact of the peat reduction strategy on the use of composts in hobby soils; and
- Life without Waste.
The Humus Day is a public event (held in German) and the BGK is happy to welcome interested parties from authorities, associations and universities.
|
If you are interested, you can download the full programme with the registration link here.
|
|
|
|
|
Bad Hersfeld Biomass Forum I 26-27 November 2024
|
Exploiting the potential of Biowaste
|
The 16th Biomass Forum under the motto “Fully exploiting the potential of biowaste” will take place on November 26 and 27, 2024 in Bad Hersfeld - Stadthalle.
|
As part of the Biomass Forum, the most important results of the R & D project “ProBio - Investigations on the optimal production and plant-cultural utilization of biowaste and green waste compost in organic farming” will be presented in an overview on Wednesday, 27.11.2024.
|
The full programme in German can be accessed here.
|
|
|
|
|
USCC’s Compost Congress I 27-30 January 2025
|
COMPOST2025
|
The USCC’s Annual Conference and Tradeshow is the premiere professional meeting for composting, organics recycling, and related topics. It will take place in Phoenix, Arizona from January 27th-30th 2025. It is a premier networking event for the composting industry with 100+ exhibitors.
|
Click here for more information and to register!
|
|
|
|
|
ICAW 2025 I Deadline for submissions November 1st
|
ICAW 2025 Poster Contest
|
Sustainable Communities Begin with Compost! is the ICAW theme for 2025. This theme was chosen with the goal of highlighting composting in all kinds of communities at any scale – from the backyard home composter to community composters, to large-scale facilities to all those who recognize the many benefits of using compost on our soils. The ICAW 2025 will take place from 4-10 May 2025.
|
Each year, the International Compost Awareness Week Committee holds a poster contest to pick a design for the annual poster. There is always a new theme for ICAW, which is highlighted on the poster as well as that year’s dates. The poster contest is open to anyone from anywhere in the world age 14 or older. It will be held from September 1st to November 1st. The prize for winning the contest is $500. Check out the full requirements for the poster here.
|
To find out more about ICAW 2025 and to stay up to date with the latest news, click 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ECN-QAS Trade Mark No 011007168 Trade mark for certified quality assurance organisations, compost and digestate products according to ECN-QAS Website: www.ecn-qas.eu
|
|
|
|