Digestate is the residue after methane fermentation. It contains plant nutrients and organic matter, so it can go onto fields as a fertiliser or soil improver.
RSSSeparation, storage, legal requirements, fertiliser value and the practice of applying digestate.
The EBA report "Digestate in Europe: State of Play in 2026" estimates the value of digestate at more than EUR 1 billion per year. Technically it could replace more than 16% of nitrogen, up to 30% of phosphorus and up to 10% of potassium from mineral fertilisers.
Dumping slurry and sludge at sea was banned in Korea in January 2012, and food waste leachate in 2013. Digestate from slurry biogas plants goes mainly as liquid fertiliser; in December 2025 a bill was submitted to change the limits on its application.
On 9 February 2026 the European Commission formally adopted an amendment to Annex III of the Nitrates Directive allowing the use of RENURE – recovered nitrogen from manure – above the manure limit. Use is voluntary for states.
Digestate contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic matter. We explain its composition, legal status (fertiliser, product, waste), application techniques and why quality depends on the substrates.
How to calculate the rate in m³/ha from the digestate analysis and the fertilisation plan, check the nitrogen limit and estimate losses. An example with explicit assumptions.
In August 2025 the NSW EPA proposed a new order and exemption for biosolids with PFAS thresholds and testing obligations; the deadline for comments was set for 26 September.
Biogas plants in Hokkaido create a large stream of liquid digestate. What are the numbers (140 biogas plants, 800,000 cows) and what does Japanese research say about its use on arable fields?
Digestate must be stored between the dates of transport to the fields. We compare closed, open and lagoon storage, the effect of covering on emissions and how to estimate capacity.
Why digestate emits ammonia, what the losses depend on and how to limit them: trailing hoses, soil injectors, rapid incorporation into soil, covering tanks.
How to plan fertilisation with digestate: calculating the rate from the analysis, the role of ammonium nitrogen, the 170 kg N/ha limit from the Nitrates Directive, and the rules on timing and good practice.
How to turn the dried solid fraction of digestate into granulate or pellets: required moisture, process stages, quality parameters, costs and risks.
Stripping recovers ammonium nitrogen from digestate in the form of ammonium sulphate. Principle of operation, process conditions, a balance example, acid and energy consumption, and limitations.
How much heat is consumed by drying the solid fraction and digestate, which dryers are used and when it makes economic sense. A calculation example with explicit assumptions.
Why digestate is separated into a solid and a liquid fraction, which technologies are most commonly used and how to calculate the mass and nutrient balance using an example.
Digestate is an organic fertiliser of variable composition. What it contains, how this depends on the substrates, and why the form of nitrogen (ammonium vs. organic) determines its value.
China wants to raise its livestock manure utilisation rate to over 80% in 2025 and over 85% in 2030. How the indicator is calculated, where the 75% for 2020 comes from and what role biogas plays.
The agricultural biogas plants act, published on 11 August 2023, introduces into the fertilisers act rules on digestate products: notification to WIORiN, documents, contaminant limits and penalties of up to PLN 100 thousand.
Regulation (EU) 2023/956 establishing CBAM was published on 16 May 2023 and enters into force on 17 May. From 1 October 2023 importers of, among other things, fertilisers will begin reporting the emissions embedded in goods.
The Act of 29 September 2022 implements in Poland Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 on fertilising products: a register of microbial fertilisers, market surveillance and penalties. It enters into force on 3 December 2022.
On 16 July 2022 Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 on fertilising products began to apply. Digestate and compost can obtain the CE mark and, as products compliant with the regulation, benefit from free movement on the EU market.
Strategy COM(2021) 699 assumes that by 2050 all EU soils will be healthy. It states that 60–70% of soils are in poor condition and announces a soil monitoring law.
In small household biodigesters the digestate (bioslurry) is sometimes as important as the gas. Hivos reports that in phase 2 of the ABPP programme more than 300 thousand ha were fertilised with it. What does research say about it and what should one watch out for?
Communication COM(2021) 400 brings together EU targets on air, water, soil and waste. It assumes, among other things, a 50% reduction in nutrient losses and halving residual municipal waste by 2030.
Vinasse is a liquid waste from distilling ethanol from cane, traditionally used as a fertiliser. We explain what anaerobic digestion changes, what role filter cake plays and what the limitations are.
