Standard rules consultation: revision of standard rules for composting in open windrows (SR2008_No16)

We have reviewed the evidence provided by the Environment Agency that the cause of incidents and poor performance in England & Wales are mainly due to:

• inadequate design and poor construction standards
• lack of operational process control
• failure to have or follow an effective management system
• deficient maintenance systems
• inadequate pre-acceptance and acceptance checks, including unacceptable levels of feedstock contamination

We came to this conclusion by:

• reviewing the responses to the EA Call for Evidence consultation in 2018
• reviewing our compliance data on AD and composting sites

Recovering organic waste for agricultural benefit replaces the reliance on chemical fertilisers and decreases the dependence on peat.

Our objectives are to:

• increase the use of food waste as a resource
• replace chemical fertiliser through waste recovery

As set out in the government strategy for a circular economy

• “Beyond Recycling”

We will also strive to meet the government's objectives for greenhouse gases (specifically those linked to the waste sector and reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions) as set out in their:

• Clean Air Plan for Wales: Healthy Air, Healthy
• Welsh Government Net Zero strategic plan

This sector can have a positive effect on climate change by:

• reducing the deterioration in soil quality
• capturing and storing carbon
• producing energy from AD

However, Natural Resources Wales must ensure:

• emissions are controlled, such as odour, bioaerosols, greenhouse gases and ammonia
• there is no risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals

The standard rules set within this consultation has existing holders but is not available for new applications.  We call these 'withdrawn and archived'.

Standard rule set SR2008 No16 - Composting in open systems, currently has three holders, two of which are non-operational. It will remain ‘Withdrawn and Archived’ and not available to new applicants.

In this consultation, we propose updating the site location criteria for standard rules permits to include marine conservation zones. This change is necessary because marine designations were not in place when some of these standard rules were initially developed.

When facilities operate beyond their design or site capacity, several issues may arise, including problems with odour, bioaerosols, and output quality. To address this, we propose that the permit should state:

• All waste and raw materials shall be securely stored
• That all incoming waste is managed to prevent uncontrolled decomposition, including monitoring and actively managing feedstock.
• Incidental non-compostable fractions are to be removed prior to processing to a low as practicable level.

• all storage and treatment areas shall be located on an impermeable surface (a hydraulic permeability of not greater than 1x 10-9 m/s) with sealed construction joints
• Maintain a drainage plan and inspection, maintenance and repair program
• The need to operate within the design or site capacity of the facility.
• That the operator will not accept waste unless there is capacity to treat it.

We propose that operators assess and detail their design or site capacity within their EMS and include how they achieve operation within these limits. Operators must also make provisions for the storage of finished material, ensuring adequate storage capacity for compost and runoff.

We do not anticipate any additional costs, as facilities should already be operating within their design or site capacity.

We recognise recovering organic waste for soil benefit replaces the reliance on chemical fertilisers and decreases the dependence on peat. We want the biowaste industry to be a Circular Economy leader. However, to achieve a higher demand and market price the output material must be of consistent quality to meet customer requirements.

In 2017 the EA looked at the chemical profile of composts. They found elevated levels of a range of chemicals. We believe this to be because of plastics and chemically treated waste wood being in the feed material. We also considered wastewater treatment sludges, tannery waste, textile and paper pulp fibres. We concluded that these wastes had not been sufficiently characterised in the past. The lack of data from industry did not support continued inclusion of these waste streams.

Therefore, we also propose to remove the following waste types and descriptions from the standard rules permit:

• waste wood codes 19 12 07, 20 01 38, and all waste woods included in sub-chapter 03 02, and chapter 17. All post-consumer and construction waste wood will be excluded. We have previously advised that waste wood from mixed sources such as from skip operators or civic amenity sites should not be composted. Such waste wood is likely to have been chemically treated.
• 19 08 05 sludges from urban wastewater treatment
• 02 07 99 wastes not otherwise specified (consisting of malt husks, malt sprouts, yeast and yeast-like residues only), due to this wastes already being included within 02 07 01.

And exclude all:

• biodegradable waste that is significantly contaminated with non-compostable contaminants, in particular plastic and litter shall be no more than 1% w/w and shall be as low as reasonably practicable
• Wastes containing Japanese Knotweed or other invasive plant species listed in the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019

Pest invested wastes

Invasive non-native species (INNS) are a threat to biodiversity in Wales and as such there are regulations to prevent and minimise the impact of their introduction and spread.

Therefore, in addition to Japanese knotweed we propose enhance biosecurity measures by excluding other invasive plant and flatworm species listed in the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019.

To align with Animal Health Regulations and ensure high standards of animal and public health, we propose to exclude manures, slurries, and spoiled bedding and straw from farms where animals have notifiable diseases, as stipulated in the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2011.

We also propose to add the following wastes to align with industry standards help develop the market further for compost:

• 15 01 02 Plastic packaging – compostable plastics only, certified to EN 13432 or an equivalent certified compostable standard
• 15 02 03 Absorbents, filter materials or cloths from the production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages other than those mentioned in 15 02 02 – hops and whisky filter sheets and cloths
• 16 03 06 Organic wastes other than those mentioned in 16 03 05 – untreated wool fleece only (excludes hides and skins)
• 16 10 02 Untreated wash waters from cleaning fruit and vegetables on farm only
• 19 02 03 Premixed wastes composed from waste listed within these standard rules only
• 19 02 06 Sludges from physico/chemical treatment other than those mentioned on 19 02 05 (sewage sludge which has been previously pasteurised and stabilised only)
• 19 05 01 - Non-composted fraction of municipal and similar wastes from composting process that accepts waste types as listed in these standard rules and made up of previously sanitised batches only
• 19 06 04 Digestate from anaerobic treatment of municipal waste, separated fibre from a process that accepts waste types as listed in these standard rules or anaerobic digestion standard rules only, made up of previously pasteurised and stabilised batches only and in compliance with Animal and Plant Health Agency authorisation
• 19 06 06 Digestate from anaerobic treatment of animal and vegetable waste, separated fibre from a process that accepts waste input types listed in these standard rules or anaerobic digestion standard rules only, made up of previously pasteurised and stabilised batches only and in compliance with Animal and Plant Health Agency authorisation
• 19 06 06 Digestate from anaerobic treatment of animal and vegetable waste (previously digestate sewage sludge only)
• 20 01 39 Plastics – incidental compostable plastics and packaging plastics only certified to EN 13432 or an equivalent certified compostable standard
• 20 03 01 Municipal household waste − separately collected garden waste only

Pests arising from composting activities can cause health hazard or annoyance outside the boundary of the site. Therefore, we propose the operator shall not be taken to have breached this rule if appropriate measures, including, but not limited to, those specified in any approved pests management plan, have been taken to prevent or where that is not practicable, to minimise the presence of pests on the site. 

Fires can occur from poorly managed composting and storage of compost. To reduce the risk of fire, we propose operator implement a fire prevention plan that prevents fires and minimises risks.

Operators are already required to submit waste returns for waste entering and leaving the site. We have data that shows the recovery of compost and digestate used on land under mobile plant permit deployment. However, the data does not currently reflect the total amount of waste recovered. As these permits are for recovery of waste this aligns with demonstrating that the permit holder is operating a recovery activity.

To ensure we complete data is available we are proposing that all material leaving the site, including certified material, is recorded and reported to NRW quarterly in a format to be specified by NRW in the future. These records should be maintained for at least 2 years.

There should be no additional cost as operators should already be keeping these records to conform with the Compost Quality Protocol requirements.

Notification conditions have been updated with revised wording added clarity; however, the obligations of the operator remain unchanged.

We do not propose any changes to the Generic Risk Assessment (GRA).