SIST-TS CEN/TS 17732:2022

Soil improvers and growing media - Terminology

This document specifies terminology for soil improvers and growing media.
Annex A contains an overview of all terms defined in this document in alphabetical order.

Bodenverbesserungsmittel und Kultursubstrate - Terminologie

In diesem Dokument wird die Terminologie zu Bodenverbesserungsmitteln und Kultursubstraten festgelegt.
Anhang A enthält eine Übersicht aller in diesem Dokument definierten Begriffe in alphabetischer Reihenfolge.

Amendements du sol et supports de culture - Terminologie

Le présent document spécifie la terminologie relative aux amendements du sol et supports de culture.
L’Annexe A récapitule tous les termes définis dans le présent document, classés par ordre alphabétique.

Izboljševalci tal in rastni substrati - Terminologija

Ta dokument določa terminologijo za izboljševalce tal in rastne substrate.
V dodatku A so po abecednem redu navedeni vsi izrazi, opredeljeni v tem dokumentu.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Public Enquiry End Date: 30-Nov-2021
• Publication Date: 07-Sep-2022
• ICS: 01.040.65 - Agriculture (Vocabularies)
• ICS: 65.080 - Fertilizers
• Technical Committee: KAT - Soil quality
• Current Stage: 6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
• Start Date: 05-Sep-2022
• Due Date: 10-Nov-2022
• Completion Date: 08-Sep-2022
• Directive: 2019/1009 - Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 laying down rules on the making available on the market of EU fertilising products and amending Regulations (EC) No 1069/2009 and (EC) No 1107/2009 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003
• Mandate: M/564 - Fertilising products in support of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009
• Ref Project: CEN/TS 17732:2022 - Soil improvers and growing media - Terminology

Relations

• Revised: oSIST prEN 17732:2026 - Soil improvers and growing media - Terminology
• Effective Date: 01-Jan-2026

Overview

CEN/TS 17732:2022 - "Soil improvers and growing media - Terminology" - is a CEN Technical Specification that standardizes vocabulary used across the soil improvers and growing media sector. Its purpose is to provide clear, harmonized definitions for terms used by manufacturers, laboratories, regulators and users so that other standards, test methods and regulations can reference a single, common terminology. Annex A gives an alphabetical overview of all defined terms.

Key Topics

This document organizes and defines terminology across technical categories, including:

• General terms: package, container, labelling requirements, intended use, user (professional and non‑professional).
• Product definitions: growing medium, pre‑shaped growing medium, soil improver and related product/component concepts.
• Component materials: compost, biochar, ash, coir, peat, Sphagnum, lignite, leonardite, wood fibre, digestate (including CMC4/CMC5 references to Regulation (EU) 2019/1009).
• Processing and manufacture: composting, anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis, fiberization, milling, drying, frost treatment, sanitation, hydraulic retention time (HRT).
• Sampling terms: batch/lot, consignment, bulk material, incremental/combined/final/laboratory/test samples, sampling point and test portion.
• Chemical and physico‑chemical properties: soluble element/nutrient, CAT (CaCl2/DTPA extraction), electrical conductivity, organic carbon/matter, bulk density (including laboratory compacted bulk density), particle size distribution, residual biogas potential, self‑heating, macroscopic impurities.
• Safety and biological terms: sanitation and indicators related to biological stabilization.

The Technical Specification contains no normative references and is intended to be the common vocabulary used by other standards developed under standardization request M/564.

Applications

CEN/TS 17732:2022 is practical for:

• Manufacturers and formulators of soil improvers and growing media for consistent product descriptions and labelling.
• Testing and certification bodies to ensure consistent interpretation of test reports (e.g., bulk density, electrical conductivity, particle size).
• Regulatory authorities and policy makers aligning product claims with EU rules (note: digestate references linked to Regulation (EU) 2019/1009).
• Agricultural advisers, retailers and end users who need unambiguous definitions for product selection and safe use.

Who should use this standard

• Product developers and quality managers
• Analytical laboratories and sampling teams
• Standard writers and conformity assessment bodies
• Public procurement, regulators and labeling authorities

Related standards

• Supports other CEN standards on soil improvers and growing media developed under the M/564 request.
• References Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 for digestate classifications (CMC4/CMC5).

Keywords: CEN/TS 17732:2022, soil improvers, growing media, terminology, composting, biochar, peat, digestate, sampling, bulk density, particle size distribution.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-oktober-2022
Izboljševalci tal in rastni substrati - Terminologija
Soil improvers and growing media - Terminology
Bodenverbesserungsmittel und Kultursubstrate - Terminologie
Amendements du sol et supports de culture - Terminologie
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TS 17732:2022
ICS:
01.040.65 Kmetijstvo (Slovarji) Agriculture (Vocabularies)
65.080 Gnojila Fertilizers
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

CEN/TS 17732
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
SPÉCIFICATION TECHNIQUE
February 2022
TECHNISCHE SPEZIFIKATION
ICS 01.040.65; 65.080
English Version
Soil improvers and growing media - Terminology
Amendements du sol et supports de culture - Bodenverbesserungsmittel und Kultursubstrate -
Terminologie Terminologie
This Technical Specification (CEN/TS) was approved by CEN on 3 January 2022 for provisional application.

The period of validity of this CEN/TS is limited initially to three years. After two years the members of CEN will be requested to
submit their comments, particularly on the question whether the CEN/TS can be converted into a European Standard.

CEN members are required to announce the existence of this CEN/TS in the same way as for an EN and to make the CEN/TS
available promptly at national level in an appropriate form. It is permissible to keep conflicting national standards in force (in
parallel to the CEN/TS) until the final decision about the possible conversion of the CEN/TS into an EN is reached.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2022 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TS 17732:2022 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
3.1 General terms . 5
3.2 Terms relating to products . 6
3.3 Terms relating to components . 6
3.4 Terms relating to processing and manufacture . 8
3.5 Terms relating to sampling . 9
3.6 Terms relating to chemical properties . 10
3.7 Terms relating to physical and physio-chemical properties . 10
3.8 Terms relating to biological properties . 13
3.9 Terms relating to safety . 14
Annex A (informative) All terms defined in this document in alphabetical order . 15
Bibliography . 19
European foreword
This document (CEN/TS 17732:2022) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 223 “Soil
improvers and growing media”, the secretariat of which is held by NEN.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This document has been prepared under a Standardization Request given to CEN by the European
Commission and the European Free Trade Association.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body.
A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to announce this Technical Specification: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United
Kingdom.
Introduction
Some of the standards requested by the standardization request M/564 will use common terminology.
For ease of reference, to simplify standardization work and to avoid unnecessary repetitions such
common terminology is included in this document. In this way, any document where the relevant
terminology is used could refer to this document.
1 Scope
This document specifies terminology for soil improvers and growing media.
Annex A contains an overview of all terms defined in this document in alphabetical order.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
3.1 General terms
3.1.1
additional labelling
information which can be shown on the package, label or on the accompanying documents
3.1.2
container
receptacle or vessel in which material is delivered, including a lorry, ship, boat and packaging
3.1.3
intended use
application of a product, process or service in accordance with information provided by the supplier
3.1.4
labelling requirements
information which is shown on the package, label or on the accompanying documents
3.1.5
package
container and materials contained therein, which are delivered and where the container remains with
the material after delivery
Note 1 to entry: A package can be a loose-filled sack, a big bale or a compressed block in packaging.
3.1.6
strike
transparent sheet of flat material, for instance toughened glass or acrylic glass which is easily large
enough to cover the top of the measuring cylinder
Note 1 to entry: Used to calibrate measuring cylinder.
3.1.7
user
anybody applying the product, including professional and non-professional (amateur) persons
3.2 Terms relating to products
3.2.1
growing medium
material, other than soil in situ, in which plants or mushrooms are grown
3.2.2
growing medium component
material which is suitable as an ingredient of growing media
3.2.3
pre-shaped growing medium
solid, regular shaped, stable growing medium, which is ready for use as a growing medium, where the
dimensions are stable, including mineral wool and polyurethane products
3.2.4
soil improver
material added to soil in situ primarily to maintain, improve or protect the physical or chemical
properties, the structure or the biological activity of the soil
3.2.5
soil improver component
material which is suitable as an ingredient of soil improvers
3.3 Terms relating to components
3.3.1
ash
residual mineral matter remaining after the destruction of organic matter/material by controlled burning
Note 1 to entry: Such residues may be used as fertilizers, for example, plant ash and animal ash, containing mainly
potassium salts and phosphates.
3.3.2
biochar
porous, carbonaceous material that is produced by pyrolysis of organic material
3.3.3
coir
fibrous husk (mesocarp) of the coconut (Cocos nucifera), underlying the smooth outermost layer
(exocarp), surrounding the hard woody layer (endocarp)
Note 1 to entry: Coir consists of fibres and pith.
3.3.4
compost
solid particulate material that is the result of an aerobic composting of biodegradable matter by
microorganisms, which has been sanitized and stabilized
3.3.5
digestate
solid or liquid material that is the result of anaerobic digestion of biodegradable materials by
microorganisms
3.3.6
digestate other than fresh crop digestate
component material designated as CMC 5
Note 1 to entry: Specified in the Regulation (EU) 2019/1009.
3.3.7
fresh crop digestate
component material designated as CMC 4
Note 1 to entry: Specified in the Regulation (EU) 2019/1009.
3.3.8
industrial sludge
semi-liquid residue or slurry that remains after the treatment of industrial water and wastewater
3.3.9
leonardite
soft waxy, black or brown, shiny, vitreous mineraloid
Note 1 to entry: Leonardite is an oxidation product of lignite, associated with near-surface mining.
3.3.10
lignite
fossil, soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed organic material in
the absence of oxygen (coalification)
Note 1 to entry: Lignite is often referred to as brown coal.
3.3.11
organic material
material of plant and/or animal origin
3.3.12
peat
weakly to strongly decomposed (humified) plant material consisting of non-fossil organic matter that has
sedentarily accumulated in a water-saturated environment (mire) in the absence of oxygen
3.3.13
Sphagnum
plant genus of peat mosses
Note 1 to entry: The division Bryophyta, comprising the family Sphagnaceae contains one genus, Sphagnum, to
which 292 (worldwide) known species of peat mosses are assigned to.
3.3.14
virgin material
raw material that has been mined, extracted or harvested and has never been previously used, developed,
or processed
3.3.15
wood fibre
fiberized wood chips to which, if necessary, conditioning agents are added during the mechanical-thermal
or steam-treatment fiberization process to stabilize the nitrogen imbalance or to dye the fibres
3.4 Terms relating to processing and manufacture
3.4.1
anaerobic digestion
controlled decomposition of biodegradable materials, which is predominately anaerobic and at
temperatures suitable for mesophilic or thermophilic bacteria
3.4.2
composting
controlled decomposition of biodegradable materials, which is predominantly aerobic and which allows
the development of temperatures suitable for thermophilic bacteria as a result of biologically produced
heat
3.4.3
drying
process to dry a material in order to reduce its moisture content, which can be achieved under natural
conditions (e.g. drying of extracted peat or coir by wind and sun) or thermally (e.g. in a drying oven)
3.4.4
extraction
process of removing inorganic raw material (e.g. perlite, diabas) or organic raw material (e.g. peat) from
its natural deposit for further processing
3.4.5
fiberization
mechanical-thermal extrusion or steam treatment of wood chips the purpose of which is to generate high
pressure and high temperatures up to 150 °C or higher, breaking the wood chips into wood fibers which
are used as a growing media component
Note 1 to entry: The same function can be obtained by applying hot steam to the wood chips.
3.4.6
frost treatment
natural, in the field freezing through of extracted strongly decomposed peat to improve its physical
properties (water capacity and air capacity) as a growing media component
3.4.7
hydraulic retention time
HRT
average residence time of the material in the digester vessel, determined by the loading rate and
operational digester capacity
Note 1 to entry: The hydraulic retention time can be calculated by dividing the digester working volume (in m ) by
the rate of flow of input materials into the digester (in m per day).
3.4.8
milling
process of grinding, cutting, pressing or crushing a material in a mill or by using a milling machine
CE
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