EUROPEAN COMMISSION JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE Directorate B - Growth and Innovation (Seville) Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership 1 Technical proposals for by-products and 2 high purity materials as component 3 materials for EU Fertilising Products 4 Interim report Date: 14 June 2021 Version: Interim Report (report v3), dated 14/06/2021 Authors: Dries HUYGENS, Hans SAVEYN Public: Commission expert group for Fertilising Products consisting of Member State authorities, EU industry associations and environmental NGOs Reference Number: n/a 5 6 Table of Contents 7 SYNPOSIS ............................................................................................................................................. 8 8 1 Executive summary .................................................................................................................. 9 9 2 Technical proposals................................................................................................................10 10 2.1 Criteria for the agronomic efficiency and safety for the use of by-products within the 11 meaning of Directive 2008/98/EC in EU fertilising products (CMC 11) ............................. 10 12 2.2 CMC WW: High purity materials ........................................................................................... 12 13 TECHNICAL ASSESSMENT AND CRITERIA DEVELOPMENT ........................................15 14 3 Project objective .....................................................................................................................16 15 4 Aim of Interim report, dated 14 June 2021 ........................................................................17 16 5 Link to policy objectives ........................................................................................................18 17 5.1 By-products as an opportunity for the EU Circular Economy .............................................. 18 18 5.2 By-products as a risk to the EU Circular Economy ............................................................... 18 19 6 Link to REACH Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 ...............................................................19 20 7 Materials proposed for evaluation.......................................................................................22 21 7.1.1 Group I – by-products primarily obtained through the refining of fossil fuels (for 22 chemical industry)................................................................................................... 22 23 7.1.2 Group II – by-products from gas cleaning and purification systems .................. 22 24 7.1.3 Group III – by-products primarily obtained from the refining of minerals, ores, 25 and metals................................................................................................................ 23 26 7.1.4 Group IV – by-products from the processing of biomass and water from food, 27 drink and biorefinery industries ............................................................................. 24 28 7.1.5 Group V – by-products as fertilising product components added for technical 29 reasons ..................................................................................................................... 24 30 8 Framework and methodology for technical assessment...................................................25 31 8.1 Challenge A - selecting of materials for full assessment under this work............................ 25 32 8.1.1 Background ............................................................................................................. 25 33 8.1.2 Public sharing of relevant information to allow a transparent assessment ......... 26 34 8.1.3 Market potential and trade on the EU single market ............................................ 27 35 8.1.4 Data availability ...................................................................................................... 27 36 8.1.5 Current legal situation and use history .................................................................. 27 37 8.1.6 Straightforwardness for developing criteria proposals......................................... 28 38 8.1.7 Alignment to Commission priorities and action plans ......................................... 28 39 8.2 Challenge B – developing a framework for a well-functioning market................................ 28 40 8.2.1 Overview ................................................................................................................. 28 41 8.2.2 Barriers and challenges observed to placing candidate materials on the market 28 42 8.2.3 Creation of an additional CMC that groups high-purity materials ...................... 30 43 8.2.4 Limiting compliance costs ..................................................................................... 35 44 8.3 Challenge C – developing a methodology to ensure material safety .................................... 36 45 8.3.1 Identification of impurities..................................................................................... 37 46 8.3.2 Screening of impurities........................................................................................... 37 Technical proposals for by-products and high purity materials as component materials for EU Fertilising Products - Interim Report (report v3), dated 14/06/2021 Page 2 / 181 47 8.3.3 Risk management and limit value proposals......................................................... 41 48 8.4 Challenge D - evaluating agronomic efficiency ..................................................................... 42 49 8.4.1 Materials to facilitate product handling, use and management............................ 42 50 8.4.2 Listing approach and effectiveness of fertilising claims ...................................... 43 51 9 Assessment and criteria development for CMC WW materials.....................................44 52 9.1 Scope ......................................................................................................................................... 44 53 9.1.1 Background ............................................................................................................. 45 54 9.1.2 Proposal ................................................................................................................... 46 55 9.2 Complexity of the compliance scheme ................................................................................... 47 56 9.3 Main constituent present in concentrations > 0.1% ............................................................... 48 57 9.4 Metals and metalloids............................................................................................................... 50 58 9.5 Halides....................................................................................................................................... 51 59 9.5.1 Chlorine ................................................................................................................... 51 60 9.5.2 Fluorine.................................................................................................................... 51 61 9.6 Microbial pathogens ................................................................................................................. 52 62 9.7 Radioactivity ............................................................................................................................. 53 63 9.8 Organic substances ................................................................................................................... 54 64 9.8.1 Bulk organic carbon................................................................................................ 54 65 9.8.2 Persistent organic pollutants .................................................................................. 55 66 9.8.3 Volatile organic compounds and chlorinated mono-aromatic hydrocarbons ..... 56 67 9.8.4 Mineral oil hydrocarbons ....................................................................................... 57 68 9.9 Other identified contaminants at trace level ........................................................................... 58 69 9.9.1 Criteria proposal...................................................................................................... 58 70 9.9.2 Background and methodology applied .................................................................. 58 71 9.9.3 Exposure assessment outcome for singular contaminants ................................... 59 72 9.9.4 General conclusion ................................................................................................. 60 73 9.10 Storage....................................................................................................................................... 60 74 9.11 Agronomic efficiency............................................................................................................... 61 75 9.11.1 Fertilisers ................................................................................................................. 61 76 9.11.2 Liming materials ..................................................................................................... 63 77 9.12 Selection of conformity assessment procedure....................................................................... 63 78 9.12.1 Background and proposal ....................................................................................... 63 79 9.12.2 Description of proposed conformity assessment module..................................... 63