News from the Compost Certification Scheme

The latest news from the compost industry


CCS Scheme Rules version 8 issued today

Posted: 21 December, 2018. Written by Georgia

Revision of the rules

Following a technical review by UKAS, updates to PAS 100, and a consultation process this year, we have finalised the new version of the CCS Scheme Rules. Version 8 is available on our website here and is accompanied by the CCS Position on Technical Requirements document (formerly technical guidance). These scheme rules are issued today and come into effect on 1st January 2019.

Key changes to the rules include:

  • Introduction of the 'Quality Assurance' category of certification
  • Introduction of the Research Hub and Research Fees
  • New conformity marks
  • Introduction of risk-based spot checks

Implementation timescales

There are few changes to the Scheme Rules with regard to the requirements that compost producers must meet if certified through the scheme, therefore, we have set a one-month transition period during which producers will be required to make any changes to documentation e.g. references to Scheme Rules version 8. There is a deadline of 1st February 2019 to implement these changes.

However, the research fees for the Compost and Biofertiliser Certification Schemes' Research Hub will be charged by the certification bodies with the certification fees from 1st January 2019.

For the use of the new compost certification scheme conformity marks, we have set a six-month transition period with a deadline of 1st July 2019. This should allow time for producers to use bags already printed with the previous conformity marks to comply with this requirement.