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Use of manure compost and use of digestate as fertilizer

I would like to ask the following questions:

  • Use of manure compost:

Royal Decree 1051/2022 on sustainable nutrition establishes distances for the application of manure: both solid manure and slurry may not be applied within 5 meters of the banks of rivers, lakes, stagnant bodies of water, the beginning of beaches and coastlines, underground water sources for human consumption, wells, and springs. This distance also applies to waste.


On the other hand, Decree 4/2008 establishes that, with respect to manure and poultry litter, it is prohibited to apply them within 500 meters of isolated dwellings, population centers, and places where festivities are held, on weekends, holidays, or the days before holidays. It also establishes distances from various elements (carts, population centers, etc.) where spreading slurry is prohibited, and other distances that must be respected for the stacking or storage of manure and poultry litter outside the farm.
In the Vulnerable Zones Order, there are also some specific issues that must be respected for manure, and it is indicated that sewage sludge must also comply with them.

The question is : on a livestock farm, if manure, bedding waste, etc., is composted and this compost is used as organic fertilizer on the farm's own land, must all the limitations imposed by different regulations on manure be respected? How is the compost classified?
And on the other hand, what criteria must be used to say that it is compost and not "matured" manure? Would it be necessary to have an analysis of the material that complies with the definition of Royal Decree 506/2013, of June 28, on fertilizer products, of "Humic amendment: manure compost" (total OM 35%m maximum moisture 40%, C/N ratio 20)?

  • Use of Digestate as fertilizer:


Currently, there are quite a few livestock farms that are implementing or considering implementing biodigesters for the manure and slurry produced by their animals, and then using the digestate as fertilizer on their land.
I've been looking at the Junta's website (https://medioambiente.jcyl.es/web/es/1285029036172.html) in the section on aerobic digestion of waste, and to be honest, it's not clear to me. The case I'm referring to is that of a livestock farmer who will use his manure, and the digestate will go on his land as fertilizer (he won't be selling any):
- Do you need to apply for the Fixed Waste Treatment Facility Authorization?
- Do you need to apply for authorization regarding animal by-products (ABP)?
- Is the digestate obtained considered a waste-compost or a fertilizer?
- What distances must the digestate respect from isolated dwellings and population centers, riverbanks, lakes, stagnant water bodies, the beginning of beaches and marine coasts, underground water intakes for human consumption, wells and springs, to different elements (roads, population centers, etc……)?
The question is: what does the farmer have to do, how is the digestate considered, and how should he use it to fertilize his land?

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Asesoramiento para asesores AKIS
12/01/2026 10:10 am

El presente documento proporciona información relacionada con la legislación que afecta a la consulta. Siendo los órganos competentes los que deben aclarar o interpretar en último término la normativa aplicable. 

La consulta aborda la aplicación legal y técnica del compost y el digestato derivados de estiércoles ganaderos, en el marco de la legislación vigente en Castilla y León. A continuación, se detallan las implicaciones normativas, criterios de clasificación y requisitos para su uso como fertilizante.