News » EU "Safemanure" (RENURE) report published

The European Commission has published the final JRC "Safemanure" report(now termed REcovered Nitrogen from manURE = RENURE), proposing criteriato authorise manure-derived recycled fertilising products to be usedabove the 170 kgN/ha for manure-derived nitrogen fixed by the Nitrates Directive.

This is absolutely not (proposed) ?End-of-Manure? criteria, in that RENUREmaterials will remain be subject to specific management and useconstraints (additional to those applicable to mineral fertilisers) tobe fixed regionally for each Nitrates Vulnerable Zone by each MemberState, concerning ?timing and application rates ?, goodagro-environmental practices ?ammonium emissions on field ? andemissions to air resulting from storage?.
The RENURE criteria also do not give an Animal By-Product End Point.Traceability and identification of RENURE materials as manure-derivedwill therefore be necessary.

In addition to these specific regional use criteria, RENURE materials must have a TOC:TN ratio ? 3 or a mineral N:TN ratio ? 90%. The JRC report suggests that such materials ?havea similar N leaching potential and agronomic efficiency to Haber-Boschderived and equivalent chemical N fertilisers, when applied under goodmanagement practices?. At this stage, these criteria are a JRC (EU Joint Research Centre) technical proposal which must now be validated by the Member States (EUNitrates Committee) and will then face the risk of possible legalchallenges, in that some environmental or agricultural NGOs and someMember States may consider that this is an attempt to facilitateintensive livestock production and allow increased manure spreading innutrient surplus regions by circumventing the provisions of the NitratesDirective to limit spreading of nitrogen, art. 2(g) ?excreted by livestock or a mixture of litter and waste products excreted by livestock, even in processed form"

?Technical proposals for the safe use of processed manure above the threshold established for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones by the Nitrates Directive(91/676/EEC)?, European Commission JRC, September 2020, D. Huygens etal., ISBN 978-92-76-21539-4

Source: https://mailchi.mp/phosphorusplatform/espp-enews-trial-577202?e=b7935c5729.