Consorzio Italiano Compostatori
CIC
To promote the development of source separated collection of organic waste, for use in the production of compost, digestate and biomethane.
ID: 53395336292-48
Lobbying Activity
Response to Evaluation of the Fertilising Products Regulation
18 Sept 2025
The Italian Composting and Biogas Association (CIC), a non-profit organization founded in 1992, is the national reference organization for the bio-waste recycling sector. CIC members include both public and private recycling companies, and their plants recycle about 80% of the separately collected bio-waste in Italy. In Italy the bio-waste recycling sector is well established; CIC estimates that over 90% of the Italian population is served by the bio-waste separate collection system, with more than 7 million tonnes of bio-waste collected every year and treated in 363 recycling plants to produce nearly 2 million tonnes of compost. According to the Italian legislation, compost production is the process that grants End-of-Waste status to separately collected bio-waste. CIC believes that producing high-quality compost is essential to ensure high standards throughout the entire bio-waste recycling chain. With this objective, in 1994 CIC established a National Quality Assurance Scheme (QAS) for compost. The CIC QAS operates in compliance with national legal requirements on compost production and, since 2017, is monitored within the framework of the European Compost Networks Quality Assurance Scheme (ECN-QAS) and recognized as a National Quality Assurance Organization. Today, nearly 35% of all compost produced in Italy has obtained the CIC Quality Label. Although compost market in Italy is mainly local (80% is used in agriculture at short distance from the recycling facilities), CIC has welcomed and supported the development of a harmonized regulation for fertilizing products, with the aim of establishing European-wide quality standards and end-of-waste criteria for bio-waste derived products such as compost, in order to boost the market for these circular recycled products. However, although the EU Fertilising Products Regulation applies since 2022, no compost or digestate-derived CE fertilising products have been put in the Italian and European market so far. We consider necessary to revise certain key aspects in order to facilitate the production of compost- and digestate-derived CE fertilising products. In particular, attention should be given to: the formal integration of NQAO into module D1; the exclusion of valuable input materials (including sewage sludge and industrial sludges from the food and feed industry) from composting and anaerobic digestion; the persistence of legislative inconsistencies and overlaps (EU FPR, Waste Framework Directive, Animal By-Products Regulation, and the Delegated Act on determining end points in the manufacturing chain of specific organic fertilisers and soil improvers); as well as the inadequacy of the transformation parameters currently established for the composting and anaerobic digestion of ABP. Further details are provided in the attached CIC feedback form.
Read full responseResponse to Review of the requirements for packaging and feasibility of measures to prevent packaging waste
21 Apr 2023
The Italian Compost and Biogas Association (CIC) welcomes the possibility to comment on the draft document revising the packaging and packaging waste directive released by the EU Commission on November 30th 2023. Since 30 years, CIC represents in Italy the industrial sector that recycles bio-waste (mainly food-waste and garden/park waste) into compost, biogas and more recently biomethane; our Association unites public and private compost producers, local authorities and others involved in compost production, like machinery and equipment constructors, growing media producers, research bodies, etc. Since the very beginning, in 1992, CICs mission has been to enhance recycling and prevention of bio-waste, share knowledge and know-how between CICs associates, enhance compost quality and market, perform technical training for the composting sector, assist government bodies in improving bio-waste recovery. Hence CIC would like to comment, as the representatives of the industrial recycling sector for bio-waste in Italy, specifically on Article 8 and Annex III and Annex VII of the proposed draft EU regulation on packaging and packaging waste (in short draft PPWR), which is going to regulate the production and marketing of compostable packaging materials in the EU and in single Member States. CIC's detailed feedback is in the file attached. Rome - 21.4.2023
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