Compost supply, storage and use in agriculture and soil-grown horticulture
Welcome to AfOR Compost Certification Scheme's section on compost supply, storage and use in agriculture and soil-grown horticulture.
This section guides you through the requirements set by the EA-WRAP Compost Quality Protocol with regard to recording compost supply, storage and use in agriculture and soil-field agriculture.
Compost Quality Protocol requirements ~ Compost supply
Paragraph 1.3.2 of the Compost Quality Protocol states that producers must demonstrate that the compost is destined to appropriate use, in one of the designated market sectors, ‘by providing the customer with a contract of supply for each consignment of compost and keeping copies of them'.
The obligatory information that a Contract of Supply should cover is specified in appendix G of the Protocol and must include:
1) Contacts:
• Producer's contact details, including address of composting site; and
• Customer's contact details.
2) Information about the product
• Product types (e.g. soil conditioner, mulch, etc);
• What the compost has been made from (e.g. composted plant material);
• Compost grade and batch codes; and
• Quantity.
3) Certification and declaration (if certified)
• Compost certification number; and
• Declaration that the compost meets with the approved standard and the Quality Protocol.
4) Guidelines and conditions for use. The contract of supply must specify that the product/compost:
• is for use solely in designated market sector applications: ‘This product/compost
• shall not be sold or distributed for use, or used in any markets other than specified.'
• must be used in accordance with good practice guidelines; and
• must not in any circumstances be blended with any waste material. If material is
• blended with waste, then the resulting mix becomes a waste and is regulated
• as such.
It must also give guidelines for the use, storage and safe handling of the compost.
Please find HERE a standard text for the guidelines and conditions for the use of compost in agriculture and soil/field grown horticulture that you should include in the information supplied to your growers. You can also download contract of supply templates from the HERE (documents 17 and 18 of AfOR Certification Scheme Application Pack 2010). Please notice that, if your compost has still a ‘waste' status, it should be supplied, transported, stored andapplied according to waste regulatory controls.
Compost Quality Protocol requirements ~ Compost use
The Protocol's section 4.4 and Appendices E and H set out a number of requirements that each customer who uses compost in agriculture or soil-grown horticulture must comply with. They cover compost analysis and application to soil, as well as soil sampling and analysis, and most importantly, require that soil Potentially Toxic Element limit values set out in the Sludge (Use in Agriculture Regulations) 1989 are not exceeded.
Please find
HERE the ‘Guidance on soil sampling and testing'. It is important that your grower is supplied with this document along with the standard Guidelines and Conditions for the use of compost in agriculture and soil/field grown horticulture.
Before you send any compost consignment for use in agriculture or soil-grown horticulture, you must inform each customer in those markets about the Protocol's requirements and let him/her know how to obtain a copy of it.
Records must be made available or supplied to the compost producer that allow him/her to demonstrate to the certification body that environmental harm did not occur when the compost was used.
On-line tool web tool for recording compost supply, storage and use in agriculture and soil-grown horticulture
An on-line interactive was launched in 2007 by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) to provide an efficient and paperless way to track the supply and use of quality compost in agriculture and soil/field-grown horticulture.
The web tool, called
QP Manager, is available at
www.qualityprotocols.com and helps compost producers to record compost test results and orders placed of quality compost by farmers; it also helps land managers plan compost application rates and ensure that gradual changes in soil Potentially Toxic Element (PTEs) levels are taken into account when applying compost.
Document 19 of AfOR Certification Scheme Application Pack 2010 offers an excel-based alternative option to the web tool and can be downloaded from
HERE.
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