EUROPEAN COMPOST NETWORK
ECN e.V.



Network for Organic Resources and Biological Treatment
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ECN E-BULLETIN No. 10_2021
30 SeptemBer 2021
GrowingMedia2021I Recordings available

Successful Industry & Policy Day held at GrowingMedia2021

During GrowingMedia2021, on August 26 in Ghent, the Industry and Policy day was followed by 180 participants. Recordings and book of abstracts are available now.
The day started with the keynote on biochar as an additive in composting given by M. Sánchez-Monedero and was followed by the session on growing media and sustainable use of resources. The scientific presentations focussed on peat replacement by coir, wood fiber, compost or processed miscanthus straw.
Before lunch the workshop organised by the International Peatland Society (IPS) dealt with environmental matters related to peatland extraction and the meaning of "Responsibly Produced Peat”.

ECN & GME policy session

Opportunities and challenges of the new EU Fertilising Products Regulation for soil improvers and growing media

With the joined policy session of the European Compost Network (ECN) and Growing Media Europe (GME) in the afternoon an exchange between the European Commission and manufacturers of growing media and soil improvers took place. Jérémy Pinte, Policy officer at the General-Directorate for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission introduced the new EU Fertilising Products Regulation focussing on the requirements for growing media and soil improvers for being placed as CE marked products on the European market. Nele Ameloot, representing Growing Media Europe, demonstrated how growing media are produced, and she stressed that there are challenges for the manufacturers for placing their tailor-made products as CE marked products on the European market. These challenges were as well taken up by Irmgard Leifert, representing Reterra Service GmbH. Her company sells more than 1,5 million cubic meters of qualtiy assured compost-based products on the German market for agricultural and horticultural purposes today. Finally, Stefanie Siebert, respresenting ECN and Vlaco, reported about the challenges of existing quality assurance organisations with the conformity assessment procedures under the EU Fertilising Products Regulation.
Finally, the session was closed with a lively debate moderated by Cecilia Luetgebrune from Growing Media Europe.
All presentations of the ECN & GME policy session can be accessed here.
The recording of the Industry & Policy Day can be watched on youtube here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAGm6Xm4wR0
The ECN & GME policy session starts at 5'13.
ECN GME Logo
EU Commission I Circular Economy Action Plan

EU Certification of Carbon Removals

A consortium of contractors, including Umweltbundesamt GmbH (Austria), Carbon Counts GmbH (Germany), Ecologic Institut GmbH (Germany) and Ramboll Management Consulting AS (Denmark), is working to develop and evaluate different options for certifying carbon removal solutions.
As part of 'cross-cutting actions' within the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Commission envisions the development of a regulatory framework for the certification of carbon removals in order to incentivise the uptake of carbon removal and increased circularity of carbon. According to the technical specifications, the external contractor would have the following tasks:
  1. Review of existing mechanisms for the certification of carbon removals.
  2. Assess the technological and nature-based solutions for carbon removals.
  3. Organise a web roundtable with a limited number of experts, and support the Commission in the organisation of a large conference with high-level speakers.
  4. Assess the options to design governance and regulatory framework for an EU mechanism.
The final report should identify the options to include various carbon removal solutions in the scope. Moreover, the report should assess the options for designing robust certification rules, addressing different elements such as the removal duration or the methodologies to measure the volume of carbon removals. Finally, the report should compare the advantages of an EU centralized certification system versus a structure relying on Member States or assess the introduction of some differentiation in the certification rules depending on the type of removal solutions.
To finish, the contractor will support the Commission in the design of a pilot phase to test the certification of carbon removals.
The work of the external contractors is expected to be concluded and delivered to the Commission by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
European Parliament I AGRI & ENVI I 10 September 2021

Farm to fork strategy

The European Parliament’s Committees on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI) and the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) published a press release on the Farm to Fork Strategy.
The Committees called on the Commission to draft a plan for minimising synthetic inputs in agriculture and Co-Rapporteur Herbert Dorfmann (EPP, Italy) was quoted in the press release highlighting the need to support farmers in the transition to more sustainable food production, and commending their efforts until now. Regarding organic farming, the Committees noted that the sector will be an important element in the transition to more sustainable food production, and underlined their support for the goal of increasing the organic production land use share by 2030.
The date for the adoption of the Report by plenary is provisionally set for 4 October 2021. The Commission is expected to host a Conference on the Farm to Fork Strategy over 14-15 October 2021.
Vlaco I IVAREM I 27 August 2021

Vlaco organised site visit to composting plant in Lier

On the last day at GrowingMedia2021, Vlaco organised a site vist to the compsoting Plant IVAREM in Lier.
Peter Borstlap, SHEQ Managerat IVAREM, together with Wim Vanden Auwweele, Vlaco, offered an exciting and impressive guided tour through the plant. The IVAREM composting plant treats in average 23.000 tonnes green waste in a 2-step composting process. The green waste is delivered through different collection schemes from municipalities, private companies and civilians (recycling parks).
Weblink: https://www.ivarem.be/compost
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EVENTS

Virtual conference I 04 -07 October 2021

ISWA World Congress 2021

The ISWA World Congress 2021 will be take place on October 4-7 as virtual event. The ISWA World Congress 2021 will be the event’s 31st edition, and it is expected to attract delegates from across the globe.
The congress will be based on a scientific programme which will be focusing on “From waste
management to circular economy – The road ahead”. Circular economy is a central pillar of new
policies interconnected also with climate change mitigation policies. New waves of legislation and
regulations are expected to stimulate serious changes within the coming years regarding the
transition from linear economy and waste management to a circular economy at a global level
promoting zero waste production and resource efficiency as well as climate change mitigation.

Working Group on Biologoical Treatment of Waste (WGBTW) Session on 6 October
The ISWA WGBTW will hold a curated session on 'The role and the economic value of restoring Carbon content in Mediterranean soils in the framework of the Circular Economy applied to biowaste recycling.
The full programme is available here.
EU Commission I 11 – 14 October 2021

European Week of Regions and Cities

The European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) is the biggest annual Brussels-based event dedicated to cohesion policy.
The 19th edition of EURegionsWeek ‘Together for Recovery’ is ready to take off virtually, with its 300 sessions dedicated to: Green Transition; Cohesion; Digital transition; and Citizens engagement.
Registration is open on the event website
ECOMONDO 2021 I 26 - 29 October 2021

Composting and Anaerobic Digestion of Biowaste at ECOMONDO 2021

The Italian Compost and Biogas Associaton (CIC) and the European Compost Network (ECN) welcomes you at ECOMONDO 2021.
On 26 October CIC will celebrate its annual conference on composting and anaerobic digestion at Ecomondo. Stefanie Siebert, Executive Director of ECN, will report about ECN's policy activies related to the EU Green Deal.
The programme of ECOMONDO 2021 can be accessed 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.

European Compost Network ECN e.V.
Im Dohlenbruch 11, D-44795 Bochum
T: +49 (0) 234 438 9447
Email: info@compostnetwork.info
Website: www.compostnetwork.info
VR4604 - UST-ID-Nr. DE813811932 -
EU Transparency Register: 26513411360-51

SOS Soil FINALE PNG

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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

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