Quality assurance of compost and digestate – Experiences from Germany

The Federal Environment Agency’s (Umweltbundesamt, UBA) publication “Quality assurance of compost and digestate – Experiences from Germany” was translated into Chinese with support from the “Sino-German Environmental Partnership” project and the “China Integrated Waste Management NAMA Support Project,” which is implemented by GIZ jointly with the China Association of Urban Environmental Sanitation (CAUES) on behalf of the NAMA Facility (established by the BMU, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the Danish Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate (EFKM) and the European Commission (EC)).

Establishing a quality assurance system for compost and digestate from bio-waste can help to decrease the amount of biodegradable waste being landfilled and to increase material recycling. Germany has been successfully operating such a system since 1989, comprising also an organisation with the competence to control the quality of compost and digestate and to award a quality label, the Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompost e.V. This brochure introduces to the quality assurance system of compost and digestate in Germany. It provides information, inter alia, on the legal framework related to bio-waste in the EU and in Germany, on involved organisations and on requirements.