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Animal by-products:
Treatment in approved composting or biogas plants of animal by-products and
catering waste -
Frequently asked Questions
Cré
sent a list of FAQ's to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food and they have kindly provided the official answers to the questions below;
(Answers
1-45 were provided on 31.07.07)
(Answer 46-50 were provided on 23.04.07)
1. What does the legislation do?
2. What exactly is catering waste?
3. Is this Irish or European legislation?
4. Can I compost animal by-products under this
legislation?
5. What treatment standards must be met during the
composting or biogas process?
6. Is there a disease risk?
7. Do I need an approval?
8. How do I go about getting an approval?
9. How long will it take?
10. Who do I contact in DAFF to get information on ABP?
Home composting
11. Can I still compost at home?
12. What if I keep pigs or ruminants, can I still compost?
13. I’m not a farmer, I just have a pet pig. Can I
compost?
14. What about schools which want to compost, do they need
to be approved?
15. What constitutes a ‘premises’?
16. Will DAFF field staff be trained on the subject?
17. What controls are there on the use of the compost?
Windrows
18. Can I use windrows for composting?
19. Are open windrows permitted?
20. Do I need a Waste Management Licence/ Permit?
21. Where can I get further information or technical
advice?
22. If I compost greenwaste only at my composting site, do
I need an ABP license?
23. If I compost catering waste using a mixed
waste/Mechanical biological treatment
facility do I need an ABP license?
24. If I compost sewage sludge only at my composting site,
do I need an ABP license?
25. What are the regulations for landspreading compost
from catering waste?
26.
27.
29. What is the classification of cooking oil?
30. When does material become an animal by-product?
31. How should animal by-products be disposed of?
32. Can livestock be fed waste foods not containing meat
and fish which comes from premises where meat and fish are handled?
33. Can milk, milk based products, bakery products, pasta,
chocolate, sweet and similar products be fed to livestock?
34. Can waste petfood be disposed of to landfill?
35. Do retailers have to remove packaging of raw meat and
raw fish before it is collected for disposal?
36. Can blood contaminated packaging continue to go to
landfill?
37. Who is responsible for the enforcement of the Animal
By-Products Regulations?
38. When was the domestic ban on swill feeding waste food
to pigs introduced?
39. Why was the ban introduced?
40. What legislation now prohibits catering waste from
being fed to animals?
41. Why have Germany and Austria been granted a 4-year
transitional period permitting the continued use of swill feeding?
42. What is the definition of catering waste?
43. What are the permitted disposal routes for catering
waste?
44. Can you spread Category 3 catering waste on land with
farmed animals present?
45. Can you inject catering waste into land?
46. Re the European
Communities (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies and Animal
By-Products) Regulations, SI No 612 of 2006, is it correct that this SI
applies to land where farmed animals would commonly have access, which would
primarily be pastureland in Ireland?
47. Re the Diseases of
Animals Act 1966 (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) (Fertilisers &
Soil Improvers) Order, SI No 615 of 2006, does this Order apply to arable
land or to roadside verges (where animals do not graze)?
48. Does this Order
apply to vegetable crops (e.g. sugar beet, carrots), energy crops (miscanthus,
willows), turnips etc?
49. What is the ABP
Classification of paunch (belly grass) from a meat factory ?
50. Does the Swill
Order still apply?
1. What does the legislation do?
The EU Animal By-Products Regulation (EC 1774/2002) lays down rules
concerning animal by-products. It permits the treatment in approved
composting and biogas premises of low-risk animal by-products including
catering waste. Animal by-products must be treated to a set EU standard. EU
Regulation No.208/2006 provides for biogas and composting plants to operate
to other standards. However, these standards must be validated in accordance
with that Regulation.
2. What exactly is catering waste?
Catering waste is defined in the EU Regulation as ‘all waste food including
used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities and
kitchens, including central kitchens and household kitchens.’
3. Is this Irish or European legislation?
EU Regulations are directly applicable in all Member States including
Ireland. However, Member States still need to introduce national legislation
to complement and enforce the EU rules. In this case, the enforcing
legislation for Ireland is the European Communities (Transmissible
Spongiform Encephalopathies and Animal By-Products) Regulations 2006 (S.I.
No. 612 of 2006) and the Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Transmissible
Spongiform Encephalopathies) (Fertilisers and Soil Improvers) Order 2006,
(S. I. No. 615 of 2006).
4. Can I compost animal by-products under this
legislation?
Under Irish legislation, certain low-risk animal by-products may be treated
in an approved composting or biogas plant.
5. What treatment standards must be met during the
composting or biogas process?
Animal by-products need to be treated to the EU standard, which is treatment
at 70°C for 1 hour, with a maximum particle size of 12mm.
Catering waste (with/without manure and/or digestive tract content) may be
treated to the national standard: 60°C for 48 hours (twice), with a maximum
particle size of 400 mm.
EU Regulation 208/2006 provides for alternative processing standards to be
used, subject to appropriate validation and a full risk assessment of those
standards.
6. Is there a disease risk?
Yes. Epidemiological studies carried out on BSE, the dioxin scare, animal
diseases such as Foot and Mouth Disease, Classical Swine Fever have all
identified animal by-products as the source. This is the scientific basis
for the Animal By-Products Legislation. It is the main reason why we need to
ensure any catering waste (an animal by-product) used in composting or
biogas treatment is fully treated.
7. Do I need an approval?
Yes, it is a legislative requirement that all premises involved in the
composting or biogas treatment of animal by-products must be approved by the
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF). Such approval is
additional to any planning or other licensing approval that may be required.
8. How do I go about getting an approval?
Application forms are available from the Animal By-Products Division,
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Pavilion B, Grattan Business
Centre, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. Tel 057- 8694343.
No production should commence until approval has been received.
9. How long will it take?
It depends on the quality and clarity of the documents and information
supplied with the application. The approval process may involve a number of
meetings with DAFF officials, site inspections, laboratory analysis of
samples etc. This is likely to take several months.
10. Who do I contact in DAFF to get information on ABP?
Animal By-Products Division, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food,
Pavilion B, Grattan Business Centre, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. Tel 057-
8694343, Fax 057-8674385.
Home composting
11. Can I still compost at home?
Yes, provided you do not keep pigs or ruminants on the premises. If you are
only composting your own kitchen scraps on your own compost heap, you are
not affected by the rules. If you keep poultry only, you may compost your
kitchen
scraps at home, but you should do so in an enclosed container. The resulting
compost must be used on the site where it is produced.
12. What if I keep pigs or ruminants, can I still compost?
No. Contaminated and unprocessed catering waste is thought to have been the
cause of outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease and Swine Fever in the UK in
recent years. It is very important that livestock susceptible to diseases
that can be
transmitted through infected meat are kept away from catering waste. If you
keep ruminants or pigs, even as pets, you must not compost on the premises.
This includes composting your own kitchen scraps. Your kitchen waste can
becomposted at an approved site elsewhere.
13. I’m not a farmer, I just have a pet pig. Can I
compost?
No. Pet animals are just as susceptible to diseases as farmed animals, and
must not be allowed access to catering waste. If you keep a pet pig or any
pet ruminant you must not compost on the premises. This does not of course
prevent you from sending your kitchen waste for composting to an approved
site elsewhere. If youkeep poultry and you wish to compost at home, you
should do so in an enclosed container.
14. What about schools which want to compost, do they need
to be approved?
Where catering waste is composted on the premises on which it originates,
and the resulting material is applied only to land at those premises, the
premises does not need to be approved (with the same restrictions with
respect to pigs, ruminants and poultry as outlined above). So a school could
run a composting project without needing an approval provided that (i) there
are no pigs or ruminants on the premises; (ii) only catering waste generated
on the premises is used; and (iii) the end product is used only on land at
those premises, and not elsewhere. If there are poultry on the premises,
composting may be carried out in a closed container. This is a general
exemption for composting done on the premises where the catering waste
originates, and could therefore also apply to places such as hospitals or
prisons as well as schools.
15. What constitutes a ‘premises’?
It is not possible to give an all-encompassing definition that will cover
every case but generally speaking we would consider premises to be separate
if they are operated completely separately, with separate exits and
entrances, and (with respect to a business premises) separate personnel and
equipment.
16. Will DAFF field staff be trained on the subject?
Yes, DAFF staff have already been trained in the area of ABP. Training is
ongoing to keep abreast of changes in the ABP legislation.
17. What controls are there on the use of the compost?
Compost derived from catering waste may be landspread, provided animals are
excluded from the land for 3 weeks after spreading (60 days exclusion in the
case of pigs).
Windrows
18. Can I use windrows for composting?
Yes, provided the requirements for a closed composting reactor, as set out
in the approval conditions, are fulfilled. Open windrowing is not permitted,
except where the material has already had a first stage in-vessel treatment,
in accordance
with the approval conditions.
‘Closed’ composting vessels may include housed windrows, subject to approval
by DAFF. Other systems such as fabric covered, aerated systems can also be
approved as closed systems, provided birds and vermin cannot gain access,
and
the covering material is durable (i.e. as well as preventing access by birds
and vermin, it is resistant to the elements, and will not rot, tear or
otherwise leave composting material exposed).
19. Are open windrows permitted?
Green waste (i.e. garden and park waste) can be composted in open windrows.
However, animal by-products may not be composted in an open windrow, except
as a secondary composting stage where the animal by-products have already
been composted in a closed system.
20. Do I need a Waste Management Licence/ Permit?
Yes, except in the case of home composting. You will need to seek advice
from your local authority on this issue.
21. Where can I get further information or technical
advice?
Technical advice may be sought from consultants within the industry.
22. If I compost greenwaste only at my composting site, do
I need an ABP license?
No.
23. If I compost catering waste using a mixed
waste/Mechanical biological treatment
facility do I need an ABP license?
Yes.
24. If I compost sewage sludge only at my composting site,
do I need an ABP license?
No. SI’s 612 and 615 only cover animal by-products and not sewage sludge.
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regulates
sewage sludge. The relevant Regulations are:
· S.I. No. 148/1998: Waste Management (Use of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture)
Regulations, 1998, and
· S.I. No. 267/2001: Waste Management (Use of Sewage Sludge in Agriculture)
(Amendment) Regulations, 2001 Sewage sludge is regulated in the interest of
protecting the environment, especially soils, from contamination with heavy
metals.
25. What are the regulations for landspreading compost
from catering waste?
Pigs should not have access to land on which compost derived from catering
waste has been spread for a period of 60 days after spreading. Other farmed
animals should be excluded for a period of 21 days.
26.
27.
28.
29. What is the classification of cooking oil?
Used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities and
kitchens, including central kitchens and household kitchens is defined as
catering waste.
30. When does material become an animal by-product?
Animal by-products are entire bodies or parts of animals or products of
animal origin not intended for human consumption. A legal definition is
given in Regulation 1774/2002.
31. How should animal by-products be disposed of?
The methods of disposal depended on the categorization of the by-product.
This is set out
in Regulation (EC) 1774 of 2002.
· Category 1 material is regarded as high risk. It includes catering waste
from means of transport operating internationally. Category 1 waste may only
be disposed by incineration or by processing in a plant approved to handle
category 1 waste. Category 1 catering waste may be disposed of in an
approved landfill.
· Category 2 material is medium risk. It may be disposed of in a wider
variety of ways than category 1 waste. Subject to a number of restrictions,
some types of category 2 material may be composted or used in biogas
production.
· Category 3 is lower risk. It can be disposed of by various means including
rendering, used in the manufacture of pet food or in the manufacture of
technical products such as fertilizer. Some category 3 materials can be
composted or used
in biogas production.
32. Can livestock be fed waste foods not containing meat
and fish which comes from premises where meat and fish are handled?
No.
33. Can milk, milk based products, bakery products, pasta,
chocolate, sweet and similar products be fed to livestock?
Milk and dairy products can be fed to animals, subject to the restrictions
set out in EU Regulation 79/2005.
The Swill Order (S.I. 597/2001) bans the feeding to farm animals of ‘any
broken or waste foodstuff (including table, catering or kitchen refuse,
scraps or waste)’. However, the order makes an exception for cereal grains,
edible material of plant or vegetable origin, bread and dough (including
biscuits) and chocolate that has not been in contact with an animal or
animal product.
34. Can waste petfood be disposed of to landfill?
Raw petfood may not be disposed of to landfill. Processed petfoods can go to
landfill.
35. Do retailers have to remove packaging of raw meat and
raw fish before it is collected for disposal?
This is a matter for the waste collector.
36. Can blood contaminated packaging continue to go to
landfill?
Blood contaminated packaging should be disposed of in accordance with
environmental legislation.
37. Who is responsible for the enforcement of the Animal
By-Products Regulations?
Enforcement of the Animal
By-Products Regulations is carried out by the Department of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food; the Local Authority Veterinary Service; the Department
of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; the Sea-Fisheries
Protection Authority and the Health Service Executive.
38. When was the domestic ban on swill feeding waste food
to pigs introduced?
This came into effect initially as a national measure in March 2001 and
subsequently as an EU measure from 18th December 2001.
39. Why was the ban introduced?
The ban was introduced to prevent outbreaks of certain diseases in animals.
40. What legislation now prohibits catering waste from
being fed to animals?
Diseases of Animals Act 1966 (Prohibition on the use of Swill) Order, 2001.
(S.I. 597 of
2001)
41. Why have Germany and Austria been granted a 4-year
transitional period permitting the continued use of swill feeding?
The Competent Authorities of those countries sought derogations from the
European Commission.
42. What is the definition of catering waste?
Regulation 1774 of 2002 states that catering waste means ‘all waste food
including used cooking oil originating in restaurants, catering facilities
and kitchens, including central kitchens and household kitchens’.
43. What are the permitted disposal routes for catering
waste?
-
Catering waste from means of
transport operating internationally is regarded as Category 1 waste. It
may be disposed of by incineration or by processing in a plant approved
to handle category 1 waste. Category 1 catering waste may be also be
disposed of by deep burial in a landfill approved under Directive
1993/31/EC.
It may not be composted.
-
Category 3 catering waste may
be disposed of by various methods including
transforming in a biogas plant or in a composting plant.
44. Can you spread Category 3 catering waste on land with
farmed animals present?
No.
45. Can you inject catering waste into land?
No.
46. Re the European
Communities (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies and Animal
By-Products) Regulations, SI No 612 of 2006, is it correct that this SI
applies to land where farmed animals would commonly have access, which would
primarily be pastureland in Ireland?
SI 612/2006 implements Commission Regulation (EC) No 181/2006. The SI
provides that the spreading of organic fertiliser/soil improvers derived
from catering waste is permissible provided farmed animals do not have
access to the land concerned for at least 21 days following application. The
21 day period is extended to 60 in the case of pigs because of their
susceptibility to disease. The restriction applies mainly but not
exclusively to pastureland. The test which applies here is not the
description of the land, but the exclusion period.
47. Re the Diseases of
Animals Act 1966 (Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) (Fertilisers &
Soil Improvers) Order, SI No 615 of 2006, does this Order apply to arable
land or to roadside verges (where animals do not graze)?
SI 615/2006 applies stricter national rules as is allowed under Commission
Regulation (EC) No 181/2006. The SI permits the landspreading of compost
derived from specified Category 3 materials other than catering waste,
subject to a number of restrictions, including a 3-year prohibition on
access/grazing by farmed animals and a 12-month restriction on making silage
or hay. The restrictions apply to any land to which animals have access.
48. Does this Order
apply to vegetable crops (e.g. sugar beet, carrots), energy crops (miscanthus,
willows), turnips etc?
Root crops for feeding to ruminants must not be grown on land within a
period of 12 months of the landspreading of compost derived from Category 3
materials other than catering waste as permitted under this Order.
49. What is the ABP
Classification of paunch (belly grass) from a meat factory ?
Paunch or belly grass is digestive
tract content and classified as category 2 material under Regulation (EC)
1774 of 2002. Landspread of this material, like manure, is permissible
subject to risk assessment by DAFF. Environmental legislative requirements
must be compiled with.
50. Does the Swill
Order still apply?
The Disease of Animals Act, 1966
(Prohibition of Use of Swill) Order, SI 597 of 2001 remains in force. This
order prohibits the keeping of swill (including catering waste) on or
adjacent to any lands or premises where animals are kept or have access.
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