20 Years’ Experience Implementing a

20 Years’ Experience Implementing a Biowaste Strategy for Flanders

Kristel Vandenbroek – Vlaco npo

AD Europe 2014 - ^20.02.2014

Flanders - Belgium

FRANCE

NETHERLANDS

GERMANY

GRAND DUCHY OF

LUXEMBOURG

1970-1980

How can we get rid of our waste in an

environmentally sound way?

Landfill

Separate collection

 Established in 1992, non-profit, independent organisation

 Members

 More than 80 members, with activities related to organic waste management

• Prevention

• Collection

• Waste treatment

 Representatives of the Flemish Government, together with public and private stakeholders:

• OVAM (Public Waste Agency of Flanders)

• Treatment plants (composting, anaerobic digestion)

• Intercommunalities, some municipalities

Vlaco npo

1990

• Start separate collection and

treatment of greenwaste and vfg- waste

1992

• Establishment of Vlaco npo:

organisation to promote the production and use of quality compost in Flanders

1998

• Promotion homecomposting

• Start education of compost masters

p

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n

e

e

r

Three pillar policy

• Promotion of home composting by master composters

• Separate collection of green waste

• Separate collection of vfg-waste (vegetable, fruit and garden) via composting bins

Recycling biowaste

Success thanks to mix of instruments

• Policy instruments

 Landfill and incinerations bans for separately collected waste streams

 Subsidies of composting installations, composting bins, …

 Waste management plans

 Environmental agreements between municipalities and the Flemish authorities to stimulate home composteing and the use of compost

• Financial instruments

 DIFTAR: polluter pays principle

 Levies, taxes

• Senbilisation & information

 brochures on: composting in vessels, chickens, closed loop gardening,

compost use, …

 websites: www.vlaco.be;

www.ovam.be;

Success thanks to mix of instruments

2000 - 2010

How can we make the best possible use of materials?

1981: waste decree

2011: materials decree Cradle to cradle

Circular economy

2003

2004

• Eow in Flanders: Quality assurance of all biological treatment of biowaste by Vlaco

• Obligation for integral chain management

2006

• Start of anaerobic digestion of manure, energy crops and waste from feed and food processing industry

2011

p

r

o

f

e

s

s

i

o

n

a

l

5

17 19

34

41

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

1991 1997 2002 2005 2007

% 20 – 80 kg/inh/y

106.000 tons/y organic waste

=

2012: 58 % of the garden owners practise home composting

% of citizens practising home composting

Closed loop gardening

Separate collection and treatment

 ‘Good practice’

 Based on self control

by treatment plant

 Internal quality system

 Protocol of acceptance for input

 Procescontrol

 Quality control of the end-products

 Reasoned use of the end-products

 Independant control

by VLACO npo on the self control of the company

 Sample taking

 Analysis

 Audits + admin. controls

VLACO-certificate



Professional treatment: Quality Assurance

• Agricultural value

• Input requirements (standard)

• No dilution

• Registration and traceability

• Risk Assessment through sampling + analysis protocol (recognised labs)

• Screening of suppliers of biowaste

• Optimising of the process

• Minimal process time, tracing

• Critical process factors

• Monitoring and steering

• Recognised labs (external control)

• Product information document

• Composition + application

Professional treatment: Quality Assurance

Certification in 2012

# companies # audits # sample takings # certificates

Composting greenwaste 26 27 87 32

Composting vfg-waste 8 8 44 9

Anaerobic digestion 35 38 234 150

Other treatment of biowaste 5 5 17 9

Others 6 7 23 8

Anaerobic digestion

Digestate

Solid fraction

Dried digestate

Dried digestate (pellets)

Biological treatment of the liquid fraction

2012

•Volunteers biological cycle

•Food loss

2014

2015

• Smart marketing

• Differentiation of products

2016 • Anaerobic digestion as pretreatment

f

u

t

u

r

food loss (and what you can do

about it)

lawn maintenance

creative and functional

use of lop and branches

use of perennials chicken

keeping home composting

compost use

Biological cycle at home: 7 main themes

Product differentiation - compost

Development of sustainable potting soil based on green compost and other organic recycled materials

• Need for better valorisation of green compost

• Ecological constraints about use of peat

• Increasing consumer awareness for sustainable garden products

 Challenge is to maintain the quality of traditional potting soil

Product differentiation - digestate

• AD: input of low value

• Homogenisation & hygienisation

• Products:

 Biogas  methane

 Nutrients  fertiliser (P)

 Organic matter  soil improver

 Heat

 Resources potting soil, organic/mineral

fertilisers, chemical industry, fibres, fatty acids

• Quality assurance: input – process – output – use

Close nutrient and organic matter cycles

Flanders success

Integrated quality assurance

Cooperation Separate collection –

treatment – marketing

Creating awareness Prevention

Thanks!

Questions?

kristel.vandenbroek@vlaco.be 015/451.370

www.vlaco.be