2020/0143/LT
EC/EFTA
LT Lithuanie
  • B30 - Environnement
2020-06-22
2020-03-23

Sewage sludge compost, sewage sludge digestate.

Draft Order of the Minister for the Environment amending Order No 349 of the Minister for the Environment of the Republic of Lithuania of 29 June 2001 approving the normative document LAND 20-2005 ‘Requirements for the treatment and use of sewage sludge’ (hereinafter referred to as the draft).

The draft aims to better regulate the treatment of sludge to avoid the uncontrolled use of sludge for fertilisation and to ensure the environmentally appropriate use of treated sludge. The draft also aims to solve issues related to odours emitted by treatment facilities of sewage sludge, improper composting and inappropriate storage of compost. The draft proposes to classify sludge compost and sludge digestate as fertilising products if they comply with the requirements laid down in the Law on fertilising products and in secondary legislation. Sludge compost and sludge digestate meeting the requirements laid down in the Law on fertilising products and in secondary legislation must be used under the procedure laid down in the Law on fertilising products, i. e. may be used without fertilising plans. The draft aims to clarify the requirements for the treatment process of sludge, the storage of sludge compost, the recording of data of sludge treatment process, the tests and their frequency. To be able to use the treated sewage sludge for the agricultural purposes outside the European Union, the draft has been supplemented by the provision allowing suppliers of sludge to deliver sludge not only to users having fertilising plans but also export it to other States following the requirements of the EU and international law applicable for the transboundary shipment of waste. To implement the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2019/1010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the alignment of reporting obligations in the field of legislation related to the environment, points 5 and 7 of Annex 1 to the LAND 20-2005 Requirements will be recast and Sections 5.5, 7.8 and 7.9 of Annex 2 shall enter into force on 1 January 2022.

It should be noted that the draft implements Council Directive 86/278/EEC of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture and executes the Order of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, formalised by Resolution S-3067 of the Government Chancellor of 14 September 2018, requesting an end to open composting of animal by-products and sludge.