the EU waste legislation with the aim of avoiding, reusing and recycling more
waste in the future in order to save resources within Europe. One of the targets
contained in the proposals is the maximum percentage of municipal solid waste to
be disposed in landfill set equal to 10% by 2030. Food waste management is
therefore a key topic of the expected strategic action plan since up to 50% of
municipal solid waste is biogenic. Biological treatments are well established in
Europe with about 3500 treatment plants across Europe, nevertheless, still 25% of
bio waste is recycled into high quality compost [3]. These figures suggest e considerable potential for expansion, especially in the southern Europe areas where the
treatment capacity is still limited [4]. In this way, sustainable bio-waste management could also be used to strengthen the economy of rural areas and, at the same
time, could benefit of compost application in agricultural fields. The SOM model
developed within BIT3G Italian projects, suggested that compost use in agricultural
sector is meaningful from a SOM management and carbon footprint perspectives as
well. The SOMS after 22 years of cardoon cropping system with compost application resulted incremented of 6.2 metric tonnes per ha (first 30 cm of soil) whereas
the scenario with zero inputs resulted decremented of 3.9 metric tonnes per hectare.
In terms of GHG balance it was observed that average CO 2 uptake has the same
order of magnitude of the overall emissions coming from cardoon cultivation. In
specific circumstances the CO 2 uptake overcomes GHG emissions making cardoon
crop cultivation GHG balance neutral or even negative.
The link between food waste management, compost production/use and food/
biomass sustainable production is therefore a key element of both for circular
economy and bio-economy to be further investigated by decision makers for its
valuable implications in the medium and long term on social, economic and
environmental pillars.
References
1. EU, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
on future steps in bio-waste management in the European Union, COM/2010/0235 final,
2010. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52010DC0235 (Accessed
30.05.2017).
2. Barth J, Amlinger F, Favoino E, Siebert S, Kehres B, Gottschall R, Bieker M, Löbig A,
Bidlingmaier W, Final Report—Compost production and use in the EU, European
Commission, DG Joint Research Centre/ITPS, 2008.
3. https://www.compost.it/materiali/Regolamento_Marchio_Qualita_CIC.pdf (Accessed 29.09.
2017).
4. Siebert S, Bio-Waste Recycling in Europe Against the Backdrop of the Circular Economy
Package, 161024 ECN Biowaste Recycling in Europe, 2016. http://www.compostnetwork.
info/download/bio-waste-recycling-europe-backdrop-circular-economy-package/ (Accessed
18.05.2017).
5. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52015DC0614 (Accessed 25.08.
2017)[6] COM (2015) 594 final Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of
the Council Amending Directive 1999/31/ EC on the landfill of waste. http://eur-lex.europa.
eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2015:594:FIN (Accessed 29.09.2017).
The Role of Compost in Bio-waste Management …
141
waste in the future in order to save resources within Europe. One of the targets
contained in the proposals is the maximum percentage of municipal solid waste to
be disposed in landfill set equal to 10% by 2030. Food waste management is
therefore a key topic of the expected strategic action plan since up to 50% of
municipal solid waste is biogenic. Biological treatments are well established in
Europe with about 3500 treatment plants across Europe, nevertheless, still 25% of
bio waste is recycled into high quality compost [3]. These figures suggest e considerable potential for expansion, especially in the southern Europe areas where the
treatment capacity is still limited [4]. In this way, sustainable bio-waste management could also be used to strengthen the economy of rural areas and, at the same
time, could benefit of compost application in agricultural fields. The SOM model
developed within BIT3G Italian projects, suggested that compost use in agricultural
sector is meaningful from a SOM management and carbon footprint perspectives as
well. The SOMS after 22 years of cardoon cropping system with compost application resulted incremented of 6.2 metric tonnes per ha (first 30 cm of soil) whereas
the scenario with zero inputs resulted decremented of 3.9 metric tonnes per hectare.
In terms of GHG balance it was observed that average CO 2 uptake has the same
order of magnitude of the overall emissions coming from cardoon cultivation. In
specific circumstances the CO 2 uptake overcomes GHG emissions making cardoon
crop cultivation GHG balance neutral or even negative.
The link between food waste management, compost production/use and food/
biomass sustainable production is therefore a key element of both for circular
economy and bio-economy to be further investigated by decision makers for its
valuable implications in the medium and long term on social, economic and
environmental pillars.
References
1. EU, Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
on future steps in bio-waste management in the European Union, COM/2010/0235 final,
2010. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52010DC0235 (Accessed
30.05.2017).
2. Barth J, Amlinger F, Favoino E, Siebert S, Kehres B, Gottschall R, Bieker M, Löbig A,
Bidlingmaier W, Final Report—Compost production and use in the EU, European
Commission, DG Joint Research Centre/ITPS, 2008.
3. https://www.compost.it/materiali/Regolamento_Marchio_Qualita_CIC.pdf (Accessed 29.09.
2017).
4. Siebert S, Bio-Waste Recycling in Europe Against the Backdrop of the Circular Economy
Package, 161024 ECN Biowaste Recycling in Europe, 2016. http://www.compostnetwork.
info/download/bio-waste-recycling-europe-backdrop-circular-economy-package/ (Accessed
18.05.2017).
5. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52015DC0614 (Accessed 25.08.
2017)[6] COM (2015) 594 final Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of
the Council Amending Directive 1999/31/ EC on the landfill of waste. http://eur-lex.europa.
eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2015:594:FIN (Accessed 29.09.2017).
The Role of Compost in Bio-waste Management …
141