Editing Compost (section)

== Regulations ==
[[File:Kitchen compost bin - Sarah Stierch.jpg|thumb|A kitchen compost bin is used to transport compostable items to an outdoor compost bin.]]
There are process and product guidelines in Europe that date to the early 1980s (Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland) and only more recently in the UK and the US. In both these countries, private trade associations within the industry have established loose standards, some say as a stop-gap measure to discourage independent government agencies from establishing tougher consumer-friendly standards.<ref>{{cite web|title=US Composting Council|url=http://www.compostingcouncil.org/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415204627/https://www.compostingcouncil.org/|archive-date=15 April 2019|access-date=2013-07-18|publisher=Compostingcouncil.org}}</ref> Compost is regulated in Canada<ref>{{cite web|date=2005|title=Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment - Guidelines for Compost Quality|url=http://www.ccme.ca/files/Resources/waste/compost_quality/compostgdlns_1340_e.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018085550/http://www.ccme.ca/files/Resources/waste/compost_quality/compostgdlns_1340_e.pdf|archive-date=18 October 2015|access-date=2017-09-04|publisher=CCME Documents}}</ref> and Australia<ref>{{cite web|date=2011|title=Organics Recycling in Australia|url=https://www.biocycle.net/2011/01/25/organics-recycling-in-australia/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922135731/https://www.biocycle.net/2011/01/25/organics-recycling-in-australia/|archive-date=22 September 2018|access-date=2017-09-04|publisher=BioCycle}}</ref> as well.

EPA Class A and B guidelines in the United States<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/40cfr503_02.html |title=EPA Class A standards |access-date=23 July 2021 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040726/http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_02/40cfr503_02.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> were developed solely to manage the processing and [[beneficial reuse]] of [[sludge]], also now called [[biosolids]], following the US EPA ban of ocean dumping.  About 26 American states now require composts to be processed according to these federal protocols for [[pathogen]] and [[Vector (epidemiology)|vector]] control, even though the application to non-sludge materials has not been scientifically tested. An example is that green waste composts are used at much higher rates than sludge composts were ever anticipated to be applied at.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/tools/cpg/products/compost.htm|title=EPA regulations for compost use}}</ref> U.K guidelines also exist regarding compost quality,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/Introduction_to_BSI_PAS_100-20052.92f2ee6e.2181.pdf|title=British Standards Institute Specifications}}</ref> as well as Canadian,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.compost.org/compostqualitydoc.pdf|title=Consensus Canadian national standards|access-date=23 July 2021|archive-date=9 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309120941/http://www.compost.org/compostqualitydoc.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Australian,<ref>[http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/publications/waste/composting/quality.html Australian quality standards]</ref> and the various European states.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/environment/topics/waste-and-recycling/biodegradable-waste_en|title=Biodegradable waste|website=ec.europa.eu}}</ref>

In the United States, some compost manufacturers participate in a testing program offered by a private lobbying organization called the U.S. Composting Council. The USCC was originally established in 1991 by Procter & Gamble to promote composting of disposable diapers, following state mandates to ban diapers in landfills, which caused a national uproar. Ultimately the idea of composting diapers was abandoned, partly since it was not proven scientifically to be possible, and mostly because the concept was a marketing stunt in the first place. After this, composting emphasis shifted back to recycling organic wastes previously destined for landfills. There are no bonafide quality standards in America, but the USCC sells a seal called  "Seal of Testing Assurance"<ref>{{Cite web |title=US Composting Council |url=https://www.compostingcouncil.org/ |access-date=25 October 2022 |website=US Composting Council}}</ref> (also called "STA"). For a considerable fee, the applicant may display the USCC logo on products, agreeing to volunteer to customers a current laboratory analysis that includes parameters such as nutrients, respiration rate, salt content,  pH, and limited other indicators.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.compostingcouncil.org/programs/sta/test_methods.php|title=US Composting Council testing parameters}}</ref>

Many countries such as [[Wales]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Gwynedd Council food recycling|url=http://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/gwy_doc.asp?doc=25454&language=1&p=1&c=1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140501141531/http://www.gwynedd.gov.uk/gwy_doc.asp?doc=25454&language=1&p=1&c=1|archive-date=1 May 2014|access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Anglesey households achieve 100% food waste recycling|url=http://www.edie.net/news/5/Anglesey-households-achieve-100-food-waste-recycling/19101/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905052711/https://www.edie.net/news/5/Anglesey-households-achieve-100-food-waste-recycling/19101/|archive-date=5 September 2017|access-date=13 April 2013|work=edie.net}}</ref> and some individual cities such as Seattle and [[San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance|San Francisco]] require food and yard waste to be sorted for composting ([[San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance]]).<ref>{{cite web|date=2016|title=Recycling & Composting in San Francisco - Frequently Asked Questions|url=https://sfenvironment.org/recycling-composting-faqs|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905003224/https://sfenvironment.org/recycling-composting-faqs|archive-date=5 September 2017|access-date=4 September 2017|publisher=San Francisco Dept. of the Environment}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Tyler|first=Aubin|date=21 March 2010|title=The case for mandatory composting|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/03/21/the_case_for_mandatory_composting/|url-status=live|access-date=19 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825201135/http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/03/21/the_case_for_mandatory_composting/|archive-date=25 August 2010}}</ref>

The USA is the only Western country that does not distinguish sludge-source compost from green-composts, and by default 50% of US states expect composts to comply in some manner with the federal EPA 503 rule promulgated in 1984 for sludge products.<ref>{{cite web|year=1998|title=Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Title 40, part 503. Standards for the use or disposal of sewage sludge|url=http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=ef0e4bc903a2845519f1d9129ad7eef7&rgn=div5&view=text&node=40:31.0.1.2.42&idno=40|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922173729/https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=ef0e4bc903a2845519f1d9129ad7eef7&rgn=div5&view=text&node=40:31.0.1.2.42&idno=40|archive-date=22 September 2018|access-date=30 March 2009|work=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>

There are health risk concerns about [[PFASs]] ("[[forever chemicals]]") levels in compost derived from sewage sledge sourced biosolids, and [[EPA]] has not set health risk standards for this.  The [[Sierra Club]] recommends that home gardeners avoid the use of sewage sludge-base fertilizer and compost, in part due to potentially high levels of PFASs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sierraclub.org/sludge-garden-toxic-pfas-home-fertilizers-made-sewage-sludge#biosolids |title=Sludge in the Garden: Toxic PFAS in Home Fertilizers Made From Sewage Sludge |website=sierraclub |date=21 May 2021 |publisher=Sierra Club |access-date=29 March 2022 }}</ref>  The EPA '''PFAS Strategic Roadmap''' initiative, running from 2021 to 2024, will consider the full lifecycle of PFAS including health risks of PFAS in wastewater sludge.<ref>{{cite web |title=PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA's Commitments to Action 2021-2024 |date=14 October 2021 |url=https://www.epa.gov/pfas/pfas-strategic-roadmap-epas-commitments-action-2021-2024 |access-date=2022-03-24 |publisher=EPA}}</ref>