The by-product of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is a nutrient rich ‘digestate’ which is used as a fertiliser for agricultural crops. New quality assurance measures will make disposal of this ‘bio-fertiliser’ much easier and boost demand for the material within the agricultural industry.
BSI PAS 110, published on 10 February 2010, is a voluntary national quality specification for bio-fertiliser. In addition, production of bio-fertiliser in line with the Quality Protocol for the production and use of quality outputs from Anaerobic Digestion (ADQP) will give assurance that the product is of consistent quality. More importantly, compliant product will no longer be considered as waste which will enable it to be marketed and used without having to comply with expensive and arduous environmental permitting controls that apply to waste. Use of these quality standards will make bio-fertiliser more attractive to farmers and, consequently, make it easier for AD operators to recycle digestate to farmland. An additional benefit is that BSI PAS 110 will enable operators to charge a price for the bio-fertiliser that more closely reflects its nutrient value, based on the equivalent cost of manufactured fertiliser.
The current system of disposal relies on the supplier or user of the material applying for an exemption under the Environmental Permitting Regulations based on the premise of being able to demonstrate ‘agricultural benefit’ by virtue of the nutrient value of the digestate. Each exemption requires a fee of £565 that applies to each 50 hectare block ...
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