# Council Directive of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture (86/278/EEC), Article 2

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) ‘sludge’ means:
(i) residual sludge from sewage plants treating domestic or urban waste waters and from other sewage plants treating waste waters of a composition similar to domestic and urban waste waters;
(ii) residual sludge from septic tanks and other similar installations for the treatment of sewage;
(iii) residual sludge from sewage plants other than those referred to in (i) and (ii);
(b) ‘treated sludge’ means:
sludge which has undergone biological, chemical or heat treatment, long-term storage or any other appropriate process so as significantly to reduce its fermentability and the health hazards resulting from its use;
(c) ‘agriculture’ means:
the growing of all types of commercial food crops, including for stock-rearing purposes;
(d) ‘use’ means:
the spreading of sludge on the soil or any other application of sludge on and in the soil.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/1986/278/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-1986-278/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.