Appraising fertilisers: origins of current regulations and standards for contaminants in fertilisers : background of quality standards in the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom and Flanders

The standards for contaminants in fertilisers in Denmark, Germany, Flanders, the Netherlands and United Kingdom, are given in the context of the proposals for new European fertiliser legislation. This EU legislation might result in generic limit values for contaminants and input lists of materials, and importantly specific waste materials, per categories of fertiliser. With the national and European targets of recycling and energy recovery, the sustainable use of waste materials as fertilisers is becoming more and more important. A revision of the fertiliser legislation is therefore not only relevant for agriculture but also for the waste and energy sector. Compared to the surrounding countries the limit values in the Netherlands are low for heavy metals and high for organic contaminants. The origin of the limit values, the basic protection policies and the risk analysis have been traced especially for the Netherlands, and roughly for the surrounding countries. The limits for heavy metals in fertilisers in the Netherlands are based on the protection of the soil, on practice, and in case of organic contaminants, also on a risk analysis. Also in the surrounding countries, the limit values have been derived using the same basic concepts of protection and risk analysis. The differences and similarities between the basic concepts to derive limit values between the countries give a starting point for a revaluation and new limit values for fertilisers