RENURE fertilisers from processed manure: Directive (EU) 2026/288 allows an extra 80 kg N/ha a year with limits for copper, zinc, Salmonella and E. coli
Commission Directive (EU) 2026/288 of 9 February 2026, published on 10 February, amends Nitrates Directive 91/676/EEC: Member States may authorise RENURE fertilisers (recovered nitrogen from manure) above the limit of 170 kg N/ha a year from livestock manure — within a separate additional limit of 80 kg N/ha a year. Transposition is due by 2 March 2028; the provision applies only in Member States that choose to use it.
- Three manure processing products qualify: ammonium salt from scrubbing exhaust gases (ammonia stripping and scrubbing), mineral concentrate from reverse osmosis, and nitrogen-rich phosphate salts (struvite). The material must have consistent batch quality and a mineral-to-total nitrogen ratio of at least 90% or an organically bound carbon to total nitrogen ratio of no more than 3.
- Upper limits: copper 300 mg/kg dry matter, zinc 800 mg/kg dry matter; in materials with more than 1% organic carbon, Salmonella spp. absent in 25 g or 25 ml (n = 5, c = 0), and for Escherichia coli or enterococci a plan of n = 5, c = 5, m = 0, M = 1,000 CFU in 1 g or 1 ml.
- Fertilisers must come with information on nitrogen and P₂O₅ content if either exceeds 1% of dry matter, with a maximum deviation of 25% from the declared value. Member States set strict quality standards for consistent nutrient content across batches, apply a mineral fertiliser equivalence factor of 1 to RENURE and limit ammonia losses, for example by injection or immediate incorporation into soil.
- The criteria and processes are based on a 2020 JRC assessment. Member States using the provision must prevent livestock numbers and manure production from rising where manure nitrogen exceeds 75% of the 170 kg N/ha limit (nationally or in a NUTS 2 region) and report annual RENURE quantities to the Commission. The Commission welcomed the Nitrates Committee’s support for the draft on 19 September 2025, after which it went through scrutiny by Parliament and Council.