Organic-PLUS D5.2 Report on alternatives to contentious inputs (WP SOIL). page 1 Organic-PLUS - grant agreement No [774340] Pathways to phase-out contentious inputs from organic agriculture in Europe Deliverable 5.2: Version 1.1 Report on alternatives to contentious inputs (WP SOIL) Versions Version: 1.0 (December 2018) First version Version: 1.2 (31 January 2019) With feedback from all authors. Funding This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No [774340 — Organic-PLUS] 10 2.3 Versioni 2.3.1 Sigillo e logotipo verticale Per una maggiore versatilità è disponibile anche la versione verticale di sigillo e logotipo da utilizzare nel caso non sia possibile l’uso della versione orizzontale. Anche in questo caso la singola parte (A) viene usata per determinare la distanza tra sigillo e logotipo. A 2.3.2 Logotipo orizzontale È possibile utilizzare il solo logotipo nella versione orizzontale qualora la dimensione del sigillo dovesse risultare più piccola delle dimensioni minime consigliate (vedi 2.5.1) o, nel contesto, la riproduzione del sigillo potesse risultare pleonastica e ridondante. Organic-PLUS D5.2 Report on alternatives to contentious inputs (WP SOIL). page 2 Project Details: Programme: H2020, SUSTAINABLE FOOD SECURITY – RESILIENT AND RESOURCE- EFFICIENT VALUE CHAINS Call topic: SFS-08-2017, (RIA) Organic inputs – contentious inputs in organic farming Project Title: Pathways to phase-out contentious inputs from organic agriculture in Europe Project Acronym: Organic-PLUS Proposal Number: 774340-2 Lead Partner: Coventry University, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience Time Frame: 01/05/2018 – 31/04/2022 Authors: Frank Oudshoorn, Cecilie Kristensen, Anne-Kristin Løes, Rafaela Cáceres, Alev Kir, Ralf Pacenka, Lu- cas Knebl, Przemysław Postawa, Tomasz Stachowiak, Agnieszka Szczypiór, Erica Montemayor, Krystyna Malinska, Sabine Zikeli, Judith Conroy, Francis Rayns, and Ulrich Schmutz Deliverable Details: WP: 5 SOIL Task 5.2: Identification of possible alternatives Lead beneficiary: SEGES Involved Partners: CU, UoH, CUT, L&F, IRTA, MFAL, NORSØK, ATB, FORI. Deadline for delivery: Month 9, 31/01/2019 Date of delivery: 31/1/2019 10 2.3 Versioni 2.3.1 Sigillo e logotipo verticale Per una maggiore versatilità è disponibile anche la versione verticale di sigillo e logotipo da utilizzare nel caso non sia possibile l’uso della versione orizzontale. Anche in questo caso la singola parte (A) viene usata per determinare la distanza tra sigillo e logotipo. A 2.3.2 Logotipo orizzontale È possibile utilizzare il solo logotipo nella versione orizzontale qualora la dimensione del sigillo dovesse risultare più piccola delle dimensioni minime consigliate (vedi 2.5.1) o, nel contesto, la riproduzione del sigillo potesse risultare pleonastica e ridondante. Organic-PLUS D5.2 Report on alternatives to contentious inputs (WP SOIL). page 3 Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 2. The use of commercial fertilisers and manure ....................................................................................... 5 2.1 Introduction and background ......................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Summary of fertiliser use ............................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Alternative fertilisers ...................................................................................................................... 6 2.4 Vegan’ ‘organic’ fertilisers – Definitions & issues with labelling .................................................. 14 2.4.1 Fertilisers used by vegan (organic) farms ............................................................................ 14 2.4.2 Commercial fertilisers - current use of the terms ‘vegan’ and ‘organic’ within the EU legal framework ............................................................................................................................................ 15 2.4.3 Vegan logo............................................................................................................................ 17 2.4.4 Vegan organic standards ...................................................................................................... 17 2.4.5 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 19 2.4.6 Going forward ...................................................................................................................... 20 2.5 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 20 2.5.1 Management to prevent the use of contentious inputs ...................................................... 20 2.5.2 Anaerobic fermentation of manure or plant materials. ...................................................... 21 2.5.3 Mineral composition ............................................................................................................ 21 2.5.4 Technical problems .............................................................................................................. 22 2.5.5 Economic assessment .......................................................................................................... 22 2.5.6 Environmental assessment .................................................................................................. 23 2.5.7 Ethical aspects ...................................................................................................................... 23 2.6 Literature on alternatives ............................................................................................................. 23 2.7 Annex ............................................................................................................................................ 25 3. Peat alternatives ................................................................................................................................... 26 3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 26 3.1.1 Peat use in horticulture. ....................................................................................................... 26 3.1.2 History of the use of growing media .................................................................................... 26 3.1.3 Properties of peat ................................................................................................................ 27 3.1.4 Environmental impact of peat ............................................................................................. 27 3.1.5 Regulation ............................................................................................................................ 28 3.2 Alternatives identified in Organic-PLUS Deliverable 5.1 .............................................................. 29 3.3 Alternative raw materials that can replace peat .......................................................................... 29 3.3.1 Main characteristics of key alternative ingredients to peat in growing media ................... 30 3.3.2 Selected literature on alternatives to peat and their environmental impact ...................... 33 3.3.3 Discussion ............................................................................................................................. 37 3.4 Conclusion on alternatives to peat ............................................................................................... 38 3.5 References .................................................................................................................................... 39 4. The use of plastic in organic agriculture with specific reference to soil mulches ................................ 42 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 42 4.2 Alternatives identified in Organic-PLUS Deliverable 5.1 .............................................................. 42 4.3 Literature review .......................................................................................................................... 42 4.3.1 Background information on plastics .................................................................................... 42 4.3.2 Plastics for mulching of soil .................................................................................................. 44 4.3.3 Alternatives to fossil-based plastic mulches ........................................................................ 44 4.4 Discussion and conclusions on alternatives to plastic .................................................................. 53 4.5 References .................................................................................................................................... 56 Organic-PLUS D5.2 Report on alternatives to contentious inputs (WP SOIL). page 4 1. Introduction This report is based on the structure of deliverable D5.1 of the Organic-PLUS project (Løes et al., 2018), where we studied the input of peat, plastic and fertilisers in 10 European countries participating in the project. Whereas that deliverable