The Renewable Energy Association’s (REA) Organics Recycling Group and the BioCompost Alliance have released a new standard for the recycling of Separated Organic Material outputs (SOMs) from mixed resources.

The ‘Separated Organic Materials (SOMS): Land Restoration End-Use Standard’ hopes to ‘enable investors to progress long-stalled land restoration projects looking to make use of SOMs’, also known as ‘compost-like’ outputs.

SOM outputs are produced when mixed solid waste is treated in Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plants or autoclave systems. This material can be landfilled, but can also be used as a soil improver on fields. However, according to the REA, land restoration projects using SOMs have been unable to progress because once waste is classified as ‘mixed’ rather than ‘source-separated’, its potential applications become ‘much more limited’.

The standard aims to help companies assess the quality of SOMs, which in turn could see more SOMs recycled for use in land restoration projects, rather than being sent to landfill.

The key elements of the end-use standard are:

• SOMs and ‘compost-like outputs’ are equivalent terms;
• all SOMs included in the End-Use standard need to be treated to Animal By-Products Regulation (ABPR) standards; and
• any land restoration/reclamation site that uses SOMs must not be used to graze livestock or grow crops that could enter the food chain.

Standard is a ‘win-win all round’

Speaking of the new standard, REA Technical Director Jeremy Jacobs said: “Instead of having to pay to dispose of it, project developers can now put this compost like material to beneficial use. It won’t be taking up landfill space but substituting for more expensive land reclamation materials. It’s a win-win all round and we are delighted to have been part of its development.”

The Environment Agency has also welcomed the new guidance, with a spokesperson saying: “This industry led initiative will be helpful in driving up the quality of SOMs proposed for use in the treatment of land to help improve an existing soil or create a new soil profile. Whilst it does not guarantee that a SOM will be suitable for the proposed use, it should help reduce occasions when proposed land treatment activities are not supported by us.”

The BioCompost Alliance, an industry group set up by agricultural and environmental consultancy ADAS to support SOM research, has said that all of its members have now signed up to the new standard.

ADAS Head of Soils & Nutrients, Professor Brian Chambers said the guidance will “help provide a higher level of confidence to operators and regulators alike”.

He continued: “The guidance provides a baseline standard which will ensure greater transparency and confidence for industry in recovering the maximum value of SOMs when used in land restoration projects. This is an excellent outcome after several months of hard work by ourselves, the ORG and our partners across the industry.”

The REA’s Organics Recycling Group (ORG) was formed after the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR), officially merged with the REA in January 2013.

Read the ‘Separated Organic Materials (SOMS): Land Restoration End-Use Standard’.