Denise Nys on Pexels
EU obligations on the selective collection of bio-waste will come into force at the end of 2023, increasing the availability of source-separated bio-waste for composting and anaerobic digestion. To ensure the development of bio-waste management best practices and the production of quality compost and digestate for soil applications, while minimizing any negative effect and closing effectively the loop, a comprehensive analysis is required regarding bio-waste management strategies, instruments and management schemes and their results given that large disparities exist among experiences in the EU.
To promote the improvement of biowaste management in the EU, a new 2.5 year project has received support from the European Commission under the LIFE Preparatory Project programme: LIFE BIOBEST.
The LIFE BIOBEST project aims to identify and validate the current best practices and management instruments along the bio-waste management chain (from generation to treatment) that allow the production of quality compost and digestate and establish a series of reference Key Performing Indicators, based on the analysis of existing databases and experiences. Through interconnected co-creation meetings with relevant expert stakeholders of the sector, solutions will be provided to overcome the identified technical, regulatory, economic and environmental barriers to widely adopt the proposed best practices
A comprehensive EU-wide guide will be created, together with two decision-support tree guides for local and regional authorities to adapt bio-waste management models to their specific context, offering feasible best practices and management instruments to promote efficient collection and subsequent recycling of biowaste into quality compost and digestate.
By means of an analysis of the input materials, treatment practices and resulting compost and digestate quality, a proposal for premium European standards for biological waste entering composting and anaerobic digestion will be developed with the ultimate goal of promoting the certification of these materials and treatments, guaranteeing optimal management processes and a safe return to the soil.
The outcomes of LIFE BIOBEST will promote a significant improvement of the collection and treatment systems, and consequently of the quantity and purity of the input material, reducing process losses and favouring the conversion of bio-waste into high-quality compost and digestate.
Since the LIFE BIOBEST consortium is led by Fundació ENT and counts with ACR+ in its partnership (as well as Consorzio Italiano Compostatori, European Compost Network and Zero Waste Europe), synergies with Biocircularcities will be facilitated.
1 February 2023