Circular Economy Action Plan

Revision of Fertilisers Regulation

DG GROW

Recycle Nutrients for Clear WatersForum for Action, Helsinki,20 April 2016

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From a Linear Economy…DISPOSEMAKETAKENATURAL

RESOURCES

WASTEWASTEWASTE

…to a Circular Economy

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The Fertilisers Regulation in the context of Circular Economy Action plan

The objectives

• Making Fertilisers more sustainable• Promote recycling of nutrients and boost the market

for secondary raw materials

The Potential of domestic bio-waste for market of fertilising products

• Substitution of mined or synthetic fertilisers by biomass or bio-wastes based fertilisers:• Nitrogen: +3% market share by 2025• Phosphorus: +14%• Potash: +22%

88%

12%

P2O5 in 2015Inorganic nutrientsOrganic nutrients

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Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment andCompetitiveness (17 March 2016): "Very few of the abundant bio-waste resources are transformed into valuable fertilising products. Our farmers are using fertilisers manufactured from imported resources or from energy-intensive processes although our industry could valorise these bio-wastes in recycled nutrients.This Regulation will help us turn problems into opportunities for farmers and businesses."

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The Fertilisers Regulation creates a level playing field for all fertilising products

• CE-marked fertilising products will be subject to similar rules under the new legislative framework

• Quality, Safety and Labelling requirements• Conformity assessment procedures

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Component Material Categories

Product FunctionCategories

CMC 1: Non-polymer virgin materialsCMC 2: Simple plant parts or extractsCMC 3: CompostCMC 4: Energy crop digestateCMC 5: Other digestateCMC 6: Food industry by-products CMC 7: Micro-organismsCMC 8: Agronomic additivesCMC 9: Nutrient polymers

PFC1 - Fertiliser (A) Organic

(I) Solid

(II) Liquid

(B) Organo-mineral(C) Inorganic

PFC2 – Liming material

PFC3 – Soil Improver (A) Organic

(B) Inorganic

PFC4 – Growing medium

PFC5 – Agronomic additive(A) Inhibitor

(B) Chelating agent

PFC6 – Plant Biostimulant (A) Microbial

(B) Non-Microbial

PFC7 – Fertilising product blend

A CE marked fertiliser is composed of…. A CE marked fertilising product belongs to….

CMC 10: Other polymersCMC 11: Animal By-products

(I) Solid

(II) Liquid

(I) Macronutrient

(II) Micronutrient

(C) Complexing agent

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Issues related to recycled nutrients

• Technological aspect: • Available technologies from lab to industrial scale.• Varying quality and not acceptable input materials

(okay for composts, digestates, processed manure, other animal by-products)

• Safety aspect: "End-of-waste criteria" providing rules for leaving waste status (now composts, digestates; later, ashes, struvite, biochar)

• Acceptability for all national legislators (if CE-marked)

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Optional harmonisation• Member States may allow other fertilisers on their markets

without the CE marking• Political choice of new COM driven by subsidiarity principle• We reserve harmonise rules for products :

• where scientific consensus exists, • where need to freely circulate exists

• Less market disruptive: CE-products compete with national ones

• Leave room for innovation for recycling nutrients: first, test your business case at national level, then, work on EU harmonisation if opportunity exists.

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Thank you for your attention !

European CommissionDG GrowthUnit D2 - Chemicals Industry Unit F.2

eric.liegeois@ec.europa.eu