ECN-QAS News

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)

 

Certified Compost Produced