Issued: dd/mm/yyyy / For compost use in agriculture and soil-grown horticulture
Approved by: person’s name
- OFFER OF CONTRACT AND ENTRY INTO FORCE
Contract number: / ASGH-<insert number here, unique to each contract>
CUSTOMER DETAILS
Name or
I.D. code:
Delivery address: / <insert delivery address>
Office address: / <insert office address if different from delivery address>
Nature of business: / <insert description of business
Market sector: / Agriculture or soil-grown horticulture. Soil-grown horticulture means: ‘The commercial production of horticultural crops in soil, in a field, or under protective cover’.
PRODUCT DETAILS
Product type: / edit as appropriate e.g. soil conditioner, mulch
Compost derived from: / edit as appropriate to waste input types, e.g. plant material>
Compost derived from any animal by-products (e.g. food scraps former foodstuffs) / Yes
[See clause 2.12 of this contract] / No
Composting site address: / <insert composting site address>
Compost grade: / <x> to <y> mm particles (approx)
Compost independently certified compliant with: / PAS 100:2011 and the EA & WRAP Compost Quality Protocol (2012 edition).
Compost conforms to the following additional criteria: / <insert name of or reference to standard(s) /specification(s)to which the compost conforms or state ‘None applicable’>
Compost certification code: / <insert compost certification code supplied by certification body>
Certified in accordance with REAL’s Compost Certification Scheme, which is an appropriate scheme aligned to the requirements of PAS 100:2011 and the Compost Quality Protocol (2012 edition).
CUSTOMER FEEDBACK ABOUT COMPOST QUALITY
If you are unsatisfied with the quality of the product supplied, please call us on <insert telephone number> or emailinsert email address>. If you do not receive a satisfactory response please contact Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd. (+44(0)207 981 0850), ).CONTRACT AGREEMENT AND ENTRY INTO FORCE
Compost producer name: / Land manager/Grower name:Signed on behalf of the compost producer / Signed on behalf of the land manager
Signature: / Signature:
Job title: / Job title:
Date: / Date:
This contract shall enter into force when both the compost producer and the land manager have accepted the terms and conditions of this contract by filling in and signing it.
This contract is in effect until cancelled by either party, by giving insert number of days days notice in writing to the other party. It shall be kept for at least four years after it is cancelled or superseded by an updated contract.
Note: Where the word ‘shall’ is used in this contract it means ‘must’.
- TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE
2.1 Please note that IF compost received under this contract is NOT CERTIFIED its status is ‘waste’. Thus, it shall be supplied, stored and used according to waste regulatory controls. If you are uncertain about the certification status of the compost supplied to you, please ask your compost supplier for a copy of the compost’s certificate of compliance with PAS 100:2011 and the Compost Quality Protocol (2012 edition).
2.2 Certified composts are composts for which a valid certificate of conformity to PAS 100:2011 and the EA & WRAP Compost Quality Protocol’ has been issued by an independent certification body appointed by REAL. More information about certification can be found at
a list of composts under assessment (including those certified) can be downloaded from
2.3 Certified compost products are produced according to the requirements of the Compost Quality Protocol (CQP, downloadable from This means that it is no longer considered to be a waste and waste regulatory controls do no longer apply to its supply, storage and use in market sectors named in the CQP, e.g. agriculture and soil-grown horticulture.
2.4 Under no circumstances whatsoever shall this compost product be blended with any waste material.
2.5 If at any stage after completion of the composting process this compost is mixed with waste, then the mixture becomes a waste and is regulated as such.
2.6 Thecompost product detailed in this contract is for use only in agriculture and soil/field-grown horticulture. It shall not be sold or distributed for use, or used in any markets other than specified above.
2.7 Compost distributors and users should follow good practice for the storage, handling, application and use of quality compost as an agricultural fertiliser and in soil-grown horticulture. Details of good practice are given in Appendix F of the Compost Quality Protocol, which is copied below. If good practice is followed, the Environment Agency and NIEA considers that quality compost will not pose a risk to human health or the environment in the quantities and frequencies at which it is likely to be applied in these sectors.
2.8 Good practice means the measures set out in the Compost Quality Protocol’s Appendix F. The compost producer should fill in, sign and supply this contract to the customer then obtain and keep a filled-in and signed copy from the customer; this should be regarded as confirmation (written proof) that information about storing, handling, applying and using compost as per good practice has been highlighted to the customer (see CQP 2012’s rule 3.2.2).
2.9If it appears that the compost is being stored indefinitely with little prospect of use, it will revert to being a waste and waste management controls will apply.
2.10The compost user must be able to demonstrate that he/she has taken full account of any environmental impact resulting from its use.
2.11‘Appendix F’ the Compost Quality Protocol (2012 edition): Good practice for the storage, handling, application and use of compost as an agricultural fertiliser and in soil-grown horticulture
This section of the contract provides a copy of the text in Appendix F of the Compost Quality Protocol 2012.
NB:. All links to documents in the Compost Quality Protocol 2012’s appendix F were accessible at the time of writing.
Storage and handling
Follow the joint Environment Agency/Fertilisers Manufacturers Association (FMA) guidance, Protect the environment: the essential guide for storing solid and liquid fertilisers[1], to ensure the compost is stored in a manner that protects the environment.
Handle the compost as described in the FMA’s Code of practice for the prevention of water pollution from the storage and handling of solid fertilisers[2] to ensure that its storage and handling does not cause harm to human health or the environment.
Application and use of quality compost
Seek advice from an advisor qualified under the Fertiliser Advisers Certification and Training Scheme (FACTS).
- In areas of England and Wales designated as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) (i.e. areas designated under legislation to implement the Nitrates Directive), applications of quality compost must comply with the relevant mandatory Action Programme measures. These include various requirements for maximum rates of application and permitted application windows for different types of manures and quality compost. In all other areas these requirements should be followed wherever practical.
- In Northern Ireland, any application of compost to agricultural land must comply with the crop nitrogen limits and land application restrictions set out in The Nitrates Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 (NAP).
For more information about NVZs, see the Defra website:
For more information about the Northern Ireland NAP, see the NIEA website:
Ensure any application of quality compost conforms to the requirements set out in the Protecting our water, soil and air: a code of good agricultural practice for farmers, growers and land managers (2009) (CoGAP)[3] (or subsequent guidance) for air, water and soil. This covers all aspects of agricultural activities including nutrient use. In particular, do not spread compost on frozen, snow-covered or waterlogged ground, or within 10 metres of a watercourse.
Apply the compost as described in the Defra guidance, Single Farm Payment Scheme – cross compliance guidance for soil management.[4]
Match compost applications to the nutrient status of the receiving soil, crop nutrient requirement, growth stage and prevailing weather conditions and make them as per the guidance given in the Defra Fertiliser Manual (RB209) 8th edition (and subsequent issues).[5]
Compost applications should adhere to the soil Potentially Toxic Element (PTE) limit values set out in the revised Code of Practice for the agricultural use of sewage sludge.[6]
When applying compost for land reclamation or land restoration, follow the guidance and information in the Code of practice for the use of sludge, compost and other organic materials for land reclamation.[7]
Follow Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency guidance on composting animal by-products and the use of animal by-product derived organic fertilisers and soil improvers.[8]
(At the time of issuing this REAL template model contract, AHVLA guidance about composting ABPs is downloadable from
AVLA guidance about the use of composts derived from ABPs can be read at
Defra guidance about ABP regulatory controls is available via
Sampling and analysis
Ensure all chemical analysis are carried out by laboratories using appropriate methods that are accredited by UKAS to ISO/IEC 17025 for the Environment Agency’s MCERTS performance standard for the chemical testing of soil.[9]
Sample soils for major nutrients regularly. Do not apply compost unless the soil has been analysed within the last five years (in accordance with RB209).
Include extractable phosphorus (Olsen method), available potassium, available magnesium in nutrient analysis.
Calculate nitrogen using soil nitrogen supply except where RB209 requires soil analysis. Sulphur should be calculated using the methodology given in RB209.
The compost producer should arrange for the compost to be analysed, and the land
manager if in England or Wales, or the controller of the land if in Northern Ireland,
should arrange for the receiving soil to be analysed for PTEs (lead, cadmium, chromium,
mercury, copper, zinc, nickel) to ensure that the compost limit values set in PAS100 are
not exceeded by the compost and the soil limit values set in the Sludge Code31 are not
exceeded in the receiving soil.
Soil analysis for PTEs should be carried out before the first application of compost and
again when any predicted soil PTE concentration becomes equal to or greater than 75
percent of its corresponding limit value set out in the Sludge Code.
[Note: REAL interprets the word ‘approach’ as meaning ‘equal to or greater than’.]
~ End of reproduced copy of Appendix F of the Compost Quality Protocol 2012.
ABP-derived composts
2.12If the compost is derived frominput materialsthat includeany type of animal by-product that is allowed to be composted (ABP-derived compost), it shall be used in accordance with EU Animal By-Products Regulation 1069/2009,EU Implementing Regulation 142/2011, and the relevant national Animal By-products (Enforcement) Regulations. The regulations also include rules on record keeping. If these rules are not adhered to, an offence will have been committed.Paragraphs 2.12.1 and 2.12.2 below aim to make the rules clear, in the context of using Quality Compost derived from types of ABP that are allowed to be composted.
2.12.1Land to which ABP-derived compost is applied
The interval between application of ABP-derived compost to land and access to, or grazing of, such land by farmed animals shall be at least 21 days.
The interval between application of ABP-derived compost to land and the cutting of herbage from that land for feeding tofarmed animals shall be at least 21 days.
The interval between application of ABP-derived compost to land and access to that land by pigs, or the cutting of herbage from that land for feeding to pigs, shall be at least 60 days.
‘Farmed animal’ is defined in EU ABP Regulation 1069/2009 as:
a)any animal that is kept, fattened or bred by humans and used for the production of food, wool, fur, feathers, hides and skins or any other product obtained from animals or for other farming purposes;
b)equidae.’ [equine animals]
2.12.2 Keeping of records
The person responsible for land to which ABP-derived compost has been applied and to which farmed animals have access or from which herbage is cut for feeding to farmed animals, shall keep records for at least two years of:
- the date and places of application (e.g. each field or part-field on which ABP-derived compost is applied and the date of application at that place);
- the quantity of ABP-derived compost applied at each place of application (e.g. in tonnes per hectare or cubic metres per square metre);
- the dates, following the application of ABP-derived compost, on which [‘farmed animals’ or] livestock [if not ‘farmed animals’] have been allowed to graze on the land or on which the land has been cut for herbage to be used for feeding.
Please note that for ABP compliance purposes, in most cases ‘livestock’ and ‘farmed animals’ have the same meaning. Pets that do not comply with the above definition of ‘farmed animal’ are regarded as ‘livestock’ (even if kept in a domestic garden), so they should not be allowed access to nor be allowed to graze from land to which ABP-derived compost has been applied, at least for the relevant minimum interval stated above in 2.12.1 (60 days in the case of a pet pig, and 21 days in the case of any other kind of pet). Such pets should also not be fed herbage that was cut from land to which ABP-derived compost was applied, if that herbage was cut sooner than the relevant minimum interval stated above in 2.12.1. The only species of pets to which the ABP controls do not apply are cats, dogs, guinea pigs and hamsters.
STORAGE
2.13 Compost keeps best when stored in a cool, dry place. If covered to prevent contamination by wind-blown weed seeds and minimise gradual change in biological and chemical characteristics, it will keep best under a gas-permeable cover.
SAFE HANDLING
2.14The producer of this compost has aimed to supply compost that does not contain germs, sharp fragments, toxins, toxic substances, viable seeds or regenerative plant parts. However, the compost producer cannot guarantee they will never be present. This compost contains naturally-occurring micro-organisms, some of which may be harmful to human health if basic safety precautions are not taken. Wear gloves when handling this compost, and wash hands immediately after use. Avoid eating any of the compost, or inhaling any airborne dust, water vapour or microscopic particles that may arise when handling it. These precautions also apply to operators of machines for handling compost, such as those for sieving/screening, blending with other materials or spreading.
DISCLAIMER
2.15 If this compost is not stored, handled and used as instructed in this contract, the compost producer shall not be liable for any costs, claims, liabilities, damages, consequential losses, or other expenses including, but not limited to any action taken by any regulatory or other competent authority pursuant to any European Union or national laws (including common laws), statutes, directives, regulations, orders, decrees, decisions, directions, guidance or best practices relating to waste and the handling, storage, treatment, recovery and disposal of waste, arising out of such misuse.
3.USEFUL LINKS
Grid reference finder:
Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside:
REAL Compost Certification Scheme:
© Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd. 2013 Page 1 of 6
Issue 4, Issued on 20/12/2012, Approved by KZ.
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