Recycled organic fertilizers for forests – busting the myths

RofBustMyth launches multi-disciplinary and multi-methodological research on the fertilization of forests with recycled organic fertilizing products. Since autumn of year 2023, CE marked organic fertilizing products and organic fertilizing products including only component materials with end-of waste -status have been allowed in forests. Therefore, the organic fertilizing products manufactured according to the Finnish national legislation containing waste components are not permitted in forest fertilization according to the prevailing fertilization. The Finnish fertilizing product decree is currently proposed to be changed in a way that fertilizer products containing waste components could be approved for use in forests by the Finnish Food Authority, provided they are included in the component material catalogue. The legislation change would allow the approval of component materials in an economically feasible way without the end-of-waste procedure for fertilizing products used in forests. However, the authority will not approve such component materials for forests fertilizers without scientific evidence providing they are safe to use in forests. The present project and the follow-up studies will provide that evidence.