Biomass, waste, residues: which raw materials offer companies the greatest potential in the KZR?

For companies operating in the biofuels, energy or biomass sectors, the KZR is not just an ‘obligation’, but also an opportunity to maximise the value of raw materials that may previously have been regarded as marginal. In practice, the greatest advantage comes from using materials which, when combined with a compliant documentation and mass balance system, deliver tangible commercial and environmental benefits.

Forest and agricultural biomass: a stable foundation that is easy to ‘package’ within the KZR

The most flexible sources include trees, shrubs, wood-like residues and agricultural residues: straw, husks, crop residues, and plant parts left after harvesting. Such raw materials are attractive because:

• they are available in large quantities, particularly in agricultural and forest regions,
• they offer predictable thermal and technological parameters,
• they meet the KZR’s requirements for sustainable sourcing.

For companies with well-organised supply chains and contracts with farmers or forest districts, forest and agricultural biomass becomes a source of ‘certified’ fuel that is easy to account for in the mass balance and document as a raw material meeting the criteria of RED III and the KZR.

Industrial and municipal waste: when waste is more valuable than buying new raw materials

A significantly larger but often underutilised area of potential is industrial and municipal waste: waste wood, foam, plastics with high calorific value, recycling residues, as well as specific fractions of municipal waste. In the KZR system, such materials:

• are subject to separate rules regarding origin and classification,
• can be used as fuel, though often with lower requirements than primary biomass,
• enable companies to reduce the costs of sourcing traditional fuel whilst utilising their ‘in-house’ waste stream.

A company that can establish a system in which waste from industry or municipal infrastructure is channelled in an organised manner to furnaces, power stations or processing plants simultaneously creates a documentary trail within the KZR that can be highly attractive to energy customers.

Processing residues and bio-waste: a niche market that is growing alongside environmental pressures

Processing residues – such as peelings, stones, fruit rejected for further use, and catering or industrial bio-waste – form a group with high but often underestimated potential. In the context of the National Waste Management Plan (KZR):

• these materials are usually classified as ‘secondary biomass’ or biological waste, which facilitates their classification,
• treating them as an energy feedstock or a feedstock for biochemical processes increases the value derived from a single stream,
• documentation of origin and mass balance is easier if production is in-house and under control.

For companies operating in agriculture, food processing or catering services, KZR can be a tool that demonstrates that the company ‘closes’ waste cycles whilst simultaneously generating energy or an additional product stream from them.

Recycled and alternative raw materials: how to turn the fuel crisis into an opportunity

At a time when the stability of traditional fuel supplies is in doubt, rising prices and pressure to reduce emissions are increasingly forcing companies to consider alternative raw materials. The greatest potential for implementing the KZR lies precisely where a company:

• replaces part of its conventional fuel with KZR-certified biofuels,
• uses fuels from secondary raw materials (RDF, SRF, fuels from integrated waste streams),
• builds a portfolio of feedstocks that enable the reduction of GHG emissions as described in the scheme.

For such companies, KZR ceases to be merely an ‘on-off’ requirement — it becomes a strategy: it allows them to build a flexible feedstock mix, reduce dependence on volatile fuel markets and, at the same time, demonstrate to customers that the company has a genuine decarbonisation plan.