The mandate concerns ash from “incineration, co-incineration and combustion” of Category 1 Animal By-Products (without specifying incineration conditions. It reminds that Cat. 1 material must currently be “disposed by waste as incineration”, suggesting that use of Cat. 1 ash as fertiliser has been banned by EU regulations since 2009 (a lawyer’s opinion commissioned by ESPP in 2022 concluded that this is not the case, see www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory, as demonstrated by authorisation of use of Cat. 1 ash as fertiliser by the UK for decades). The letter of mandate states that “the Commission is currently not aware of any new scientific data, evidence, publication, assessment or technological solution” that would justify revision of existing legislation but that following several requests “in particular from the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform … the Commission seeks for a review of the existing scientific literature in order to explore the possible presence of biological and chemical hazards in ash from Category 1 materials after incineration, co-incineration and combustion.” EFSA have accepted this mandate committing to deadlines to deliver opinions on the BSE/TSE risk by 30th April 2025 and (if this first opinion is not negative) on other biological and chemical risks by April 2026. ESPP welcomes this DG SANTE mandate. We have already requested a risk analysis from SAFOSO to input to EFSA and will submit all other relevant information known to us.
If you are aware of data, publications or evidence of health or environmental safety of Cat. 1 ash, please indicate to ESPP info@phosphorusplatform.eu so that we can forward to EFSA.
European Commission DG SANTE “Request for a scientific opinion on the presence of biological and chemical hazards in ash from Category 1 material after incineration, co-incineration, and combustion”, Ares(2024)2805627 - 17/04/2024, EFSA reference EFSA-Q-2024-00278, Mandate number M-2023-00166 https://open.efsa.europa.eu/question/EFSA-Q-2024-00278