Successful certification of the Austrian Quality Assurance Scheme for compost

For the fifth time, the Austrian Compost and Biogas Association (KBVÖ) has successfully passed the conformity assessment according to the European Quality Assurance Scheme for Compost and Digestate (ECN-QAS).

The audit of the Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) took place in Wieselburg on 8 November 2024. The ECN Quality Manager, Stefanie Siebert, audited the KBVÖ QAS against the requirements of EN 17065 for certification bodies, products, processes and services.
The KBVÖ QAS was presented by the quality team of KBVÖ, Melanie Brait and Michaela Schimon. In addition to the documentation, the ECN-QAS audit includes an audit of a composting plant.

Melanie Brait (Quality Manager of KBVÖ), Michaela Schimon (Quality Manager of KBVÖ), Stefanie Siebert, Quality Manager of ECN and Elke Dorfwirth (Operational manager of composting plant SEIRINGER Umweltservice GmbH)

The ECN Quality manager had the opportunity to follow the KBVÖ audit on the open windrow composting plants of SEIRINGER Umweltservice. The plant has been in operation for over 30 years and composts 20,000 tonnes of organic waste per year.

About KBVÖ
The Austrian Compost & Biogas Association (KBVÖ) is the umbrella organisation of 5 provincial organisations situated in Tyrol, Styria, Upper and Lower Austria and Carinthia which are in operation since the early 1990ies. From the very beginning their scope was to provide competent extension work and planning and operational assistance to the composting industry as well as accompanying the communication with authorities. The KBVÖ represents more than 450 compost and biogas plants covering all provinces of Austria. On the reference date 1st of September 2024 there are 250 compost facilities members of the KBVÖ participating in the quality assurance scheme of KBVÖ. The size of facilities varies between very small plants to plants with 20.000 to input material.

Further information about KBVÖ its quality assurance scheme can be accessed in the latest country report from Austria.

Successful certification of Vlaco's quality assurance scheme

For the fifth time, Vlaco has successfully passed the conformity assessment according to the European Quality Assurance Scheme for Compost and Digestate (ECN-QAS).

The audit of the Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) took place in Mechelen on 9 October. The ECN Quality Manager, Stefanie Siebert, audited the Vlaco QAS against the requirements of EN 17065 for certification bodies, products, processes and services.
The audit was accompanied by the quality team of the Italian Composting and Biogas Association (CIC). In addition to the documentation, the ECN-QAS audit includes an audit of a biological treatment plant.

Wim Vanden Auweele (Quality Manager of Vlaco), Stefanie Siebert, Quality Manager of ECN, Alberto Confalonieri, Jenny Campagnol, Vera Brambilla (Quality team of CIC), Silke Goetry (QESH-assistant Ecoson Materials), Fillip De Keyzer (Manager Compofert NV)

The certification team had the opportunity to follow the Vlaco audit on the largest anaerobic digestion plant in Flanders, 'ECOSON'. The plant is authorised to treat 450,000 tonnes of bio-waste per year (3,100 tonnes/day). The input material is bio-waste from the food/feed processing industry and bio-based industry, supermarkets, catering facilities.

The plant provides three processing units:

Anaerobic digestion of biowaste
Biothermal drying of manure and biowaste materials
De-packaging of super market waste & production of biomix for anaerobic digestion

The plant has been awarded the Vlaco certificate for 4 fertiliser products: (thickened) digestate liquid fraction, digestate solid fraction, dried digestate and ammonia concentrate.

About Vlaco

In 2023, Vlaco represents a total of 106 members, of which 88 are treatment plants in the Flemish region. Together, these treatment plants represent a treatment of 601,000 tonnes of biowaste by green composting + 402,000 tonnes of biowaste by VFG composting (end products are green compost and VFG compost). A total of 1,656,000 tonnes of bio-waste was treated by anaerobic digestion and biothermal drying (mainly bio-waste from the food and feed processing industry and distribution sector), together with manure (785,000 tonnes) and energy crops (129,000 tonnes).

Evolution of the separate collection and treatment of organic-biological material in Vlaco QAS.

Further information about Vlaco and its quality assurance scheme can be accessed in the latest country report from Flanders.

Four National Quality Assurance Organisation

25% of all compost produced in the EU27, CH, NO and UK was certified to the ECN's Quality Assurance Scheme (5.3 million tpa out of a total of 21.7 million tpa). In 2022 the ECN Quality Assurance Scheme certified compost from: Austria (Kompost & Biogas Verband Österreich (KBVÖ)), Belgium-Flanders (Vlaco), Germany (Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompost e.V. (BGK)) and Italy (Consorzio Italiano Compostatori (CIC)