1 Waste Management and the Organic Waste Stream

upd. May 2010

The Netherlands differentiates between green waste and VGF-waste (vegetables, garden and fruit waste - in Dutch: G.F.T. = groente, fruit- en tuinafval) which is similar to the German Biowaste. The latter contains the organic waste from separate collection of the municipal solid waste. Green waste is defined as yard trimmings, clippings and the organic residues from gardens and parks, as a result of separate collection by communities, landscapers and governmental organisations .

Green waste
Approximately 100 green waste composting plants process about 2,5 million tonnes of green waste; the 65 members of BVOR only process 1,6 million tonnes. In the year 2009 38% of the collected green waste, mainly yard trimmings, was processed into biomass for energy production. The remaining 62% was composted in the open air.

VGF-waste
In 2010 approximately 90% of the households in the Netherlands (17 million people in approximately 6 million households) were involved in the separate collection system for organic waste; resulting in 1.47 million tonnes of biowaste being processed into 0,6 million tonnes of compost. Since 1999 the organic residues from commercial and industrial enterprises have been specifically mentioned and included in the official regulations. Thus, this will increase the potential of organic waste collection and treatment in the Netherlands significantly.

In 2009, 23 composting plants for domestic biowaste, with a total capacity of 2.102 million tonnes were in operation. Two composting plants are processing nearly one third of the total capacity of all the plants in the Netherlands. By the end of 2010 six anaerobic digestion plants for source separated biowaste will be in operation, with a total capacity of 340.000 tonnes per annum. A further two anaerobic plant processes the organic fraction of residual waste. The national policy is to treat collected organic components of household waste separately, as far as possible and otherwise utilise these components for direct conversion to energy (heat and energy). Composting and anaerobic digestion are the recommended technologies for treatment of biowaste, according to the waste management hierarchy enshrined in both European and national legislation.

The policy is to stimulate the treatment of residual (unsorted) MSW and to convert the other organic components in residual MSW into biogas or directly into energy by incineration. There is a landfill ban on VGF-waste and MSW, still containing untreated organics.

2 Legal Framework for the Organic Waste Stream and Compost Production, including certification

The Dutch National Waste Management Plan (LAP) sets out the minimum standards for the treatment of specific waste streams and ensures that an adequate disposal capacity is available. The Fertiliser-decree ("Meststoffenbesluit" ) was reviewed in 2008. The most significant part of the Fertiliser-Decree, as far as compost is concerned, is that legal limits for the concentration of heavy metals and impurities are stipulated for compost. The minimum content of organic matter in compost is 10% of the dry matter.

The Fertiliser Decree ensures that the requirements of the EU Nitrates Directive are fulfilled. All livestock producers with more than 0.5 livestock unit per hectare and all arable farmers are subject to maximum application rates of  nitrogen and phosphate per ha per year.  For application of compost only 50 % of the phosphate (with a maximum of 3,5 kg/tonne compost) and 10 % of the Nitrogen in compost are taken into account for the maximum application rates.

From March 2009 the Dutch Waste Management Association (DWMA Vereniging Afvalbedrijven) and the Association of composting plants BVOR (Branche Vereniging Organische Reststoffen) have one joint voluntary quality assurance system.  Compost with certificate is marketed under the name “Keurcompost”.

The Keurcompost quality assurance system has the following aims:

• Adherence to the legal regulations concerning compost  by continuous monitoring of compost quality.
• Guarantee of additional quality requirements so that the final product will be accepted by the user in the very quality-sensitive Dutch market.

BVOR and DWMA have a joint certification committee to draw up assessment guidelines. These guidelines (BRL Keurcompost) comprise, besides legal requirements, analysis methods for compost, an internal quality assurance system for companies, additional standards for impurities and a number of extra analysis to be monitored, as, for example, plant nutrients. Compost producers must have their production process and quality assurance system examined by an independent institute in order to obtain the certificate. At this moment nearly all VGF-compost is certified and more and more green waste compost will be certified in the next years.

3 Application and Markets

Green waste

In the year 2009 38% of the green waste was applied as biomass for energy production (incineration).

Compost from green waste, sales per sector in the year 2009

VGF-waste
The following table shows the application of VGF-compost per sector in 2008:

Source: DWMA and Senternovem, November 2009. Waste Processing in the Netherlands, Data 2008. (Only available in the Dutch Language).

4 Expected Trends and Developments

The demand for compost in the Netherlands is high at the moment. There is more demand than compost.  

5 Contacts and sources of information

Dutch Waste Management Association             Branche Vereniging Organische Reststoffen
Ellen Verhoef                                                       Hans Scholten
Hugo de Grootlaan 39                                         Agro Business Park 38
5202 CD S-HERTOGENBOSCH                        6708 PW WAGENINGEN
THE NETHERLANDS                                          THE NETHERLANDS
Tel. +31 (0)73 627 94 44                                 TEL. +31 (0) 317 426755
Fax. +31 (0)73 627 94 49                                 Fax. +31 (0) 317 417963

Email: verhoef@dwma.eu                                     E-mail: info@bvor.nl
Internet: www.dwma.eu                                        Internet: www.bvor.nl