Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompost e.V.

The Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompost e.V. (BGK) is a German registered association (eingetragener Verein) headquartered in Cologne that serves as the recognised quality-assurance body for organic fertilisers and soil improvers produced from recycling processes in the circular economy. It is recognised by RAL, the German Institute for Quality Assurance and Labelling, and operates the RAL quality marks for compost (RAL-GZ 251), digestate (RAL-GZ 245), NawaRo digestate (RAL-GZ 246), fertilisers including wood ash (RAL-GZ 252) and substrates from food recycling (RAL-GZ 252/1). The BGK describes itself as independent and neutral, committed solely to quality assurance and to promoting good professional practice in the use of quality-assured products. The association was entered in the register of associations of the Amtsgericht Bonn on 22 January 1992 under register number VR 6261, and was later entered in the transparency register (26 January 2009, no. 6439683101495) and the lobby register (12 July 2022, no. R04933). Its statutory bodies are the members' assembly, the board and the Bundesgüteausschuss (federal quality committee), which is composed predominantly of independent representatives of institutions. Ordinary members are natural and legal persons under public or private law that manufacture fertilisers and soil improvers, as well as quality associations whose members manufacture products subject to BGK quality assurance. The BGK's core task is to monitor compliance with the quality provisions laid down by RAL for the processing of organic waste from households, gardens and parks and other residual materials. Its RAL quality assurance aims at the safe application of fertilising products obtained from composting, anaerobic digestion and incineration. The BGK is the body responsible for regular quality monitoring (Gütegemeinschaft) within the meaning of § 11(3) of the German Bioabfallverordnung (biowaste ordinance) and fulfils the requirements for a quality association under that ordinance. It provides information materials and working aids, issues application recommendations and legal statements, and gives implementation guidance for the enforcement of the biowaste ordinance and of Regulation (EC) No. 1774/2002 (the EU hygiene regulation). As of June 2026 the BGK's figures list 609 plants holding the compost quality mark RAL-GZ 251 (finished compost, fresh compost, substrate compost), 155 plants holding RAL-GZ 245 for solid and liquid digestate, 37 plants holding RAL-GZ 246 for solid and liquid NawaRo digestate, 20 plants holding RAL-GZ 252 for wood and plant ash, and 9 plants holding RAL-GZ 252/1 for substrate from the processing of former foodstuffs. The association publishes the quarterly online newsletter "H&K aktuell", organises an annual BGK meeting, and coordinates public-relations activities such as the "Tag der Biotonne" (Day of the Biobin). It also addresses newer regulatory topics such as CE marking of quality-assured products under the EU Fertilising Products Regulation 2019/1009. The BGK is a membership organisation rather than a commercial manufacturer: participation in its RAL quality schemes requires ordinary membership either in the BGK itself or in one of its affiliated regional or sectoral quality associations.

The Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompost e.V. (BGK) was founded as a registered association and entered in the register of associations of the Amtsgericht Bonn on 22 January 1992 under register number VR 6261. It was established as the recognised body for quality assurance of compost and other organic fertilising products in Germany, operating under the framework of RAL, the German Institute for Quality Assurance and Labelling. Its statutory purpose is set out in the association's statutes, and its organs are the members' assembly, the board and the Bundesgüteausschuss (federal quality committee). The board is elected by the members' assembly for a two-year term, while the Bundesgüteausschuss consists predominantly of independent representatives of institutions. Over the following decades the BGK expanded its quality-assurance portfolio beyond compost. It became responsible for the RAL quality marks for digestate (RAL-GZ 245), NawaRo digestate from renewable raw materials (RAL-GZ 246), fertilisers including wood and plant ash (RAL-GZ 252) and substrates from the processing of former foodstuffs (RAL-GZ 252/1). The association also became the body responsible for regular quality monitoring within the meaning of § 11(3) of the German Bioabfallverordnung (biowaste ordinance), fulfilling the requirements for a quality association under that ordinance. Institutional milestones include entry in the transparency register on 26 January 2009 under number 6439683101495 and entry in the lobby register on 12 July 2022 under number R04933. The BGK has also published technical works, notably the "Methodenbuch zur Analyse organischer Düngemittel, Bodenverbesserungsmittel und Substrate" (Methods Book for the Analysis of Organic Fertilisers, Soil Improvers and Substrates), first issued in 1998 and fundamentally revised as a loose-leaf collection, with a fifth edition in 2006. In recent years the BGK has engaged with new regulatory frameworks, including the CE marking of quality-assured products under the EU Fertilising Products Regulation 2019/1009. It continues to publish the quarterly online newsletter "H&K aktuell", organises annual meetings, and coordinates public-relations campaigns such as the "Tag der Biotonne". As of June 2026, the BGK reported 609 plants holding the compost quality mark RAL-GZ 251, 155 plants holding RAL-GZ 245, 37 plants holding RAL-GZ 246, 20 plants holding RAL-GZ 252 and 9 plants holding RAL-GZ 252/1. On 1 June 2026 the compost quality mark was switched to RAL's uniform corporate design.

• Association entered in the register of associations of the Amtsgericht Bonn under VR 6261

• Methods Book for the Analysis of Organic Fertilisers, Soil Improvers and Substrates first published

• Methods Book fundamentally revised as a loose-leaf collection, fifth edition

• Entry in the transparency register under number 6439683101495

• Entry in the lobby register under number R04933

• Compost quality mark switched to RAL's uniform corporate design

Independent, neutral quality-assurance organisation recognised by RAL for organic fertilisers and soil improvers from recycling processes.

• RAL-GZ 251 compost quality mark

  Quality mark for finished compost, fresh compost and substrate compost; 609 plants as of June 2026.

• RAL-GZ 245 digestate quality mark

  Quality mark for solid and liquid digestate; 155 plants as of June 2026.

• RAL-GZ 246 NawaRo digestate quality mark

  Quality mark for solid and liquid digestate from renewable raw materials; 37 plants as of June 2026.

• RAL-GZ 252 fertiliser quality mark

  Quality mark for wood and plant ash; 20 plants as of June 2026.

• RAL-GZ 252/1 food-recycling substrate quality mark

  Quality mark for substrate from the processing of former foodstuffs; 9 plants as of June 2026.

1. 1Startseitekompost.de
2. 2Wer wir sindkompost.de
3. 3Mitglied werdenkompost.de
4. 4Zahlen und Faktenkompost.de
5. 5Bundesgütegemeinschaft Kompostde.wikipedia.org
6. 6Wikidatawikidata.org