Do you have a worm composter at home, school or neighborhood? If so, you may have heard that the rules around worm composting have changed. Worms now officially fall under “livestock,” and that has quite a few implications. But what does this actually mean in practice? And do you need to regulate anything with the government?
I figured it out for you and explain it simply below.
Spoiler alert: If you just have a private worm composter at home, there’s nothing to worry about.
What has changed?
The government now views compost worms as livestock, and their poop (the compost) as animal manure. That may sound crazy, but this means that all kinds of rules suddenly apply that were actually meant for farmers.
Particularly for neighborhood initiatives and for schools, that may mean applying for NVWA approval.
In addition, there are new environmental permit obligations depending on where you keep your worms and how many people you do it with.
Do I need to apply for anything?
Whether you need an environmental permit and/or NVWA approval depends on the situation. Here are the three most common cases:
1. Composting at home with a worm composter.
Good news! If you have a worm composter at home and only compost waste from your own household, you don’t need to apply for anything. This falls under “household waste,” and that is not subject to these strict rules.
2. A worm composter at school.
Want to compost waste with worms at school with the kids? Then it depends on where the compost goes:
✅ Is the compost going to an ornamental garden (trees, flowers, shrubs)? Then you do not need NVWA approval and you may just feed the worms with vegetable and fruit waste. Heating the waste is not required.
❌ Is the compost going to a kitchen garden (where vegetables or fruit are grown)? Then the school does need to apply for an approval from the NVWA, and the worm feed must first be heated to 70 °C.
An environmental permit may also be required, depending on the municipality. Unfortunately, this means additional paperwork and possibly additional costs.
3. A neighborhood worm hotel
Do you have a worm composter in your neighborhood that several households bring their GFT waste to? If so, it is officially considered a kind of small composting facility. This means you need both an approval with NVWA and an environmental permit from the municipality. That can make it quite complicated and deters many neighborhood initiatives.
What does this mean in practice?
Fortunately, for many people who compost at home, nothing will change. But schools and neighborhood initiatives will have to deal with onerous rules that are actually meant for large-scale composting companies.
The good news: if the compost is used only for ornamental gardens, NVWA approval is not required and the waste does not have to be heated. This makes it a little easier for schools and community initiatives to continue worm composting.
Want to know what this means for your situation? Then check with your municipality or the NVWA. And let’s hope there will soon be exceptions for small, sustainable initiatives!