Essential safety and quality requirements for fertilising materials Fertilisers Working Group meeting 17th March 2014 1

Source of information Outcomes of the Technical Working Groups (TWGs) of 2012 including the comments received after December 2012 Consultation of stakeholders during the preparation of the impact assessment report Report of JRC Sevilla on EU EoW criteria for biodegradable waste The proposed tolerances discussed in 2012 were also taken into account.

General principles : safety Safety of products must be ensured Limit values based on scientific evidence and peer-reviewed Limit values specific to each product categories taking into account their application rates Critical materials (e.g. raw sewage sludge) should be listed in a negative list

Review of the list of contaminants Current list of contaminants : based on current practices Risk-based limits are desirable in the long term Safeguard clause of Reg 2003/2003 to be kept but mitigation measures are temporary Revision of the Water Framework Directive or the limit values for contaminants in foodstuffs would trigger the revision of contaminants list where relevant for fertilisers REACH restriction mechanisms as a possible way to ban hazardous substances present in fertilisers (with the help of existing REACH committees – RAC+SEAC )

General principles : efficacy Minimum quality requirements should help distinguishing products without stifling innovation Minimum quality requirements should be specififc to each product category Labelling information should help farmers to make optimal use of fertilising materials Member States should recommend application rates for fertilising materials based on labelling information and their specific soil and climatic conditions

Inorganic fertilisers – Max Inorganic fertilisers – Max. limit values for heavy metals in primary and secondary nutrient fertilisers Substance Max. Content (mg/kg dry matter) Cd (for products containing less than 5% P2O5) 3 Cd for products > 5% P2O5 EU limit 60. Opt-in 40 or 20 Cr VI 2 Hg Ni 120 Pb 150 As 60

Inorganic fertilisers – Max Inorganic fertilisers – Max. limit values for heavy metals in micronutrient fertilisers-Minutes FWG 19.09.2009 Heavy metal Upper limit for heavy metal (mg heavy metal/kg micronutrients) for straight or mixtures of B, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo or Zn fertilisers As 1000 Cd 200 Pb 600 Hg 100 Ni 2000

Inorganic fertiliser – Minimum nutrient content Two different views on the minimum nutrient content for inorganic fertilisers. Some Member States would support rather low limits for solid and fluid fertilisers to take into account products for specialist home use and horticulture adapted for low nutrient requirements and allow flexibility in the composition of NPK Other Member States supported higher values (min. 3%) to prevent dilution of fertiliser with hazardous material and ensures the quality of products.

Inorganic fertiliser – Minimum nutrient content A. Solid primary and secondary inorganic fertilisers Minimum nutrient content on dry matter (individual value qualifies the product as an inorganic fertiliser) N total: 2 % P2O5 total : 1% Water-soluble K2O: 1,5% MgO (min. limit not yet defined) CaO (min. limit not yet defined) Na2O (min. limit not yet defined) SO3 (min. limit not yet defined)

Inorganic fertiliser – Minimum nutrient content B. Fluid primary and secondary inorganic fertilisers Minimum nutrient content on commercialised products (individual value qualifies the product as an inorganic fertiliser) N total: 1% P2O5 total :0,3% Water-soluble K2O : 0,5% MgO (min. limit not yet defined) CaO (min. limit not yet defined) Na2O (min. limit not yet defined) SO3 (min. limit not yet defined)

Inorganic fertiliser – Minimum nutrient content C. Micronutrient inorganic fertilisers (solid and fluid) Solid (percentage by weight of product) Fluid (percentage by weight of product) Micronutrient 5 2

Organic fertilisers – Max Organic fertilisers – Max. limit values for contaminants (proposed by EU EoW) Substance Max. conc. (mg/kg dry matter) Cd (for products containing less than 5% P2O5) 1,5 Cr VI 0,5 Hg 1 Ni 50 Pb 120 Cu 200 Zn 600 PAHs (16 congeners) 6

Organic fertilisers – Max. limit values for microorganisms – EU EoW Pathogens Maximum limit values Salmonella spp No Salmonella species in 25 g sample Escherischia coli 1000 CFU/g product

Organic fertilisers – Max Organic fertilisers – Max. limit values for viable weeds and propagules – EU EoW 2 viable weed seeds per liter of compost/digestate

Organic fertilisers – Max Organic fertilisers – Max. limit values for macroscopic impurities – EU EoW 0,5% on dry matter weight for glass, metal and plastics above 2 mm to be determined by dry sieving method. Stone exceeding 5 mm : no proposed maximum limit value

Organic fertilisers – Quality requirements Minimum organic matter content (expressed on dry matter) No mimimum organic matter content Minimum nutrient content on dry matter (individual values qualifies the product as organic fertiliser N total: 1,5% P2O5 total: 0,5% Water-soluble K2O: 0,75% Corg/Norg ratio No minimum or maximum requirements but information should be labelled

Organo-mineral fertiliser Split views between Member States on the need for such category Essential agronomic criteria proposed by some Member States limited to minimum nutrient and organic matter content: not enough to justify the creation of a specific product category, the market can differentiate these O-M fertilisers Need to define more specific essential criteria enhancing the added value of such product (e.g. kinetic of release of nutrients if appropriate) that makes them different from blends Safety criteria: proposal to use the limit values defined for organic fertilisers

Liming materials – minimum quality requirements Minimum NV : 15 (equivalent CaO) 9 (equivalent OH) Determined on the commercialised product

Liming materials – Max. limit values for contaminants Substance Max. conc. (mg/kg dry matter) Cd 3 Cr VI Standard in development Hg 2 Ni 90 Pb 200 As 120

Organic soil improver – Quality criteria (EU EoW) Minimum organic matter content (expressed on dry matter) 15% Minimum nutrient content on dry matter No minimum requirements but the total N and P content must be declared + water-soluble K Corg/Norg ratio < 15%

Organic soil improver – max limits for contaminants – EU EoW criteria

Growing media – Safety criteria Maximum limit values for contaminants in GM (mg/kg dry matter) Contaminant Mg/kg dry matter Cd 3 Cr total 150 Cu 230 Hg 1 Ni 90 Pb Zn 500

Way forward Comments are welcome until the end of May Next Fertilisers Working Group: presentation of the labelling requirements