*1.3.2 Limit values and declaration for product function categories of the EU fertilizing products*

According to FR the product function categories are: (i) liquid or solid fertilizer (organic or inorganic straight or compound macro and micronutrients), (ii) liming material, (iii) organic or inorganic soil improver, (iv) growing medium, (v) nonmicrobial plant biostimulant, and (vi) fertilizing product blend [20]. In a solid organo-mineral fertilizer, each physical unit shall contain organic carbon (Corg) and all the nutrients in their declared content. A physical unit refers to one of the component pieces of a product, such as granules or pellets. Inorganic micronutrient fertilizers shall be made available to the end-user only in packaged form.

If sewage sludge is pre-treated at the site of fertilizer production, the final product line must be separate from the processing of other input materials, and there must be a strictly prevented physical contact between the input and output material during storage.

An organic fertilizer shall contain organic carbon (Corg) and primary nutrients (PN) (P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S) of solely biological origin, but no other material which is fossilized or embedded in geological formations. It shall be derived from plant residues or livestock manure (**Tables 9** and **10**).

**Table 9** provides the technical specification of product function categories (PFC) of the EU fertilizing products, which could potentially contain the sewage sludge.

In a solid organo-mineral fertilizer, each physical unit shall contain Corg and all PN in their declared content (**Table 9**, footnote a). Limit values shall not apply where copper or zinc has been intentionally added to an organo-mineral fertilizer for the purpose of correcting a soil micronutrients (MICN) deficiency and is declared in accordance with Annex III of FR (**Table 9**, footnote b).

Straight or compound inorganic fertilizer shall contain one or more primary macronutrients (P MACN) and one or more secondary macronutrients (S MACN). **Table 10** presents the minimal content for nutrients for those two groups of fertilizer: (i) content of only one P MACN (**Table 10**, footnote a), (ii) content of only one P MACN and one or more S MACN (**Table 10**, footnote b), (iii) content of more than one P MACN (**Table 10**, footnote c), and (iv) content of no P MACN and more than one S MACN (**Table 10**, footnote d). The total sodium oxide (Na2O) content shall not exceed 40% by mass (**Table 10**, footnote e). If an inorganic fertilizer contains more than 1% by mass of Corg derivated from chelating or complexing agents, nitrification inhibitors, denitrification inhibitors or urease inhibitors, coating agents, urea (CH4N2O), or calcium cyanamide (CaCN2) (**Table 10**, footnote f), shall meet pathogen requirements set out in **Table 8**. Limit values shall not apply where copper or zinc has been intentionally added to an organo-mineral fertilizer for the purpose of correcting a soil micronutrients deficiency and is declared in accordance with Annex III of FR (**Table 10**, footnote g).

Declared minimum content of the total sum of (MICN) boron, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc for compound solid inorganic micronutrient fertilizer, PFCs 1(C)(II)(b) shall be 5% by mass. That type of fertilizer shall be made available to the end-user only in packaged form. Contaminants in an inorganic micronutrient fertilizer must not exceed the limit values presented in **Table 11**.


### **Table 9.**

*Limit values and declaration for solid PFCs of EU fertilizing products.*

**Table 12** presents the limit values and declaration of nutrients for organic soil improver, inorganic soil improver, growing medium, and non-microbial plant biostimulant. Declared organic soil improver may contain peat, leonardite, and lignite, but no other material which is fossilized or embedded in geological formations. Growing medium could be solid or liquid materials/substrate in which plants (including algae) grow (**Table 12**, footnote a).

The plant biostimulant shall be an EU fertilizing product which stimulates plant nutrition processes independently of the product's nutrient content with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant or the


*Basic Morphological,Thermal and Physicochemical Properties of Sewage Sludge for Its… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101898*

### **Table 10.**

*Limit values and declaration of nutrients for solid inorganic fertilizer declared as a PFCs 1(C)(I).*

plant rhizosphere: (i) nutrient use efficiency, (ii) tolerance to abiotic stress, (iii) quality traits, or iv) availability of confined nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere (**Table 12**, footnote b). The plant biostimulant shall have the effects that are claimed on the label for the plants specified thereon (**Table 12**, footnote c).

Pathogens content of EU fertilizing products declared in **Table 12** must not exceed the limits set out in **Table 8**. Evaluation of the sewage sludge, its solid pyrolytic residue (PCM), and its mixture with other treated waste as a fertilizer according to FR will be a complex procedure. In addition to the physicochemical evaluation, the EU fertilizer products label will require a number of other administrative procedures - from packaging to sale.


### **Table 11.**

*Upper limit values of polluting substances for compound solid inorganic micronutrient fertilizer, PFCs 1(C) (II)(b) of EU fertilizing products.*


### **Table 12.**

*Limit values and declaration of nutrients for PFCs 3(A), PFCs 3(B), PFCs 4 and non-microbial plant biostimulant (PFCs 6(B)) of EU fertilizing products.*
