The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a research call over the use of waste-derived materials in agriculture.
The research will look at the use of recycled materials, such as biosolids, poultry litter ash, paper sludge ash and wood shavings as fertilisers, liming agents, soil improvers or animal bedding.
It will also assess the possible impact these recycled materials could have on environmental contaminant levels in agricultural products, such as meat, milk, eggs, vegetables, cereals and animal feed.
The aim is to provide robust evidence to ensure that both established and innovative uses of various recycled materials for agriculture will not compromise food safety.
FSA noted that the data from this project will enable improved verification and validation of current and future risk assessments. This will help to optimise the control measures needed to protect the food chain, while building confidence in the effective and sustainable use of waste materials that can usefully be recycled, known as 'end-of waste' materials, in agricultural food production.
The agency is inviting tenders for the research and the last date for the submission of applications is November 2012.
