The Sewage Sludge Directive (SSD), on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture, adopted 30 years ago, was no longer matching current needs and expectations, such as properly regulating pollutants found in sludge.
Therefore, the Directive has been recently updated, following Circular Economy principles of the EU, to set quality requirements for the sludge and the soil on which it is to be used, by establish upper limits on their content in seven heavy metals (cadmium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, mercury, chromium). The updated Directive also requires sludge treatment before application and consideration of the nutrient needs of the plants.
More information on this topic is available on the European Commission page.
If you work in the fertilizers field and you need support to comply with the current regulations, please feel free to contact TEAM mastery!
