The European Commission has published an update to the EU Critical Raw Materials list, identifying “raw materials with a high supply-risk and a high economic importance to which reliable and unhindered access is a concern for European industry and value chains”. This third version of the list (first published in 2011, 2014) now lists 27 Critical Raw Materials, following a detailed assessment conducted by external consultants (TNO), Commission expertise and stakeholder consultation, and using a methodology which has been improved to take into account trade factors, different industry sector uses and substitution potential (possible nutrient recycling in the case of phosphate rock). The 2014 list included phosphate rock, representing phosphorus (in any form) essential for food production in mineral fertilisers, animal feed minerals and imported animal fodder. Phosphate rock is maintained in the 2017 list, and following input from ESPP and industry, the specific form white phosphorus (P4) is also added to the list. P4 is essential to a number of added-value chemical sectors, such as fire safety, lubricants, polymer additives, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, catalysts, metal processing and is produced in specific production installations. Europe’s last such installation closed in 2012 (Thermphos, NL), leaving these sectors of EU industry totally dependent on imports of P4 or P4 derivatives from Vietnam, China or Kazakhstan. ESPP welcomes the inclusion of P4 onto the Critical Raw Materials list because this will stimulate development of processes to upcycle P4 from secondary raw materials, so contributing to the Nutrient Circular Economy, creating jobs in the EU and reducing import dependency of high-value EU industry sectors. ICL, for example, is developing industrial implementation of the RECOPHOS process, tested at pilot scale in Leoben, Austria, with EU FP7 R&D funding.
COM(2017)490 “Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the 2017 list of Critical Raw Materials for the EU”, 13th September 2017 http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regdoc/rep/1/2017/EN/COM-2017-490-F1-EN-MAIN-PART-1.PDF
ESPP has submitted comments to the European Commission’s draft proposals for EU criteria for recovered struvite and phosphate salts, recycling of ashes and for biochars, as CE Fertilisers under the revision of the EU Fertilisers Regulation (STRUBIAS). ESPP’s comments include input from stakeholder meeting in Brussels last week, organised by the platform, at which over 100 participants from industry, regulators, EU services, environmental and agricultural NGOs and research discussed the STRUBIAS proposals (slides). ESPP welcomes that progress is being made towards Europe-wide authorisation of these materials as fertilisers, because this will facilitate the Nutrient Circular Economy, and open the EU market for nutrient recycling technologies. ESPP fully supports the need to ensure that all recycled fertilisers are safe for health and the environment, and offer agronomic qualities for farmers, but suggests that the criteria for recycled products (in CMCs) should not duplicate criteria already applicable to all CE Fertilisers placed on the market (PFCs). ESPP also expresses concern about unnecessary complication and multiplication of criteria which will prevent innovation and confuse implementation, for example for process/time for biochars (instead of using simple indicators of process efficiency in degrading organics, or complex mineral ratios for types of ashes which are already widely used as fertilisers such as meat and bone meal ash). ESPP expresses particular concerns about the proposed criteria for recycling ashes into industrial fertiliser production. This should be an important phosphorus recycling route, as legislation comes into place in Germany and Switzerland requiring phosphorus recycling from sewage, because 2/3 and 100% respectively of sewage sludge is incinerated in these countries, so that phosphorus recovery will be from ash. The wording currently proposed will exclude all phosphorus recycling routes from sewage sludge incineration ashes which are today operational (Zurich process via phosphoric acid production, AshDec thermal recovery, Ecophos process via hydrochloric extraction, use of ash in existing phosphate rock processing fertiliser factories) – not for any reason of safety, but because of inappropriate wording (excluding use of various chemicals in processing) and because of the mechanism of criteria application. This problem is indicative of fundamental cracks in the architecture of the Fertilisers Regulation, similar to overlooking the use of industrial by-products in mineral fertiliser production: the current wording of the Regulation will exclude most phosphate fertilisers currently sold in Europe, because sulfuric acid used in their manufacture is a by-product of oil refining. A European Parliament amendment (IMCO 281) attempts to “patch over” this emission for industrial by-products, but the same flaw poses problems for processing ashes. ESPP believes that use of ashes in fertiliser production processes, to replace imported phosphate rock, should be facilitated by applying the same criteria as for manufacture of fertilisers from virgin materials, subject to ensuring that possible incineration-generated contaminants (dioxins, PAH) are monitored in the ash and not introduced into the environment. This is an important route to accelerate the Nutrient Circular Economy and reduce EU dependency on imported phosphate rock, which is on the EU Critical Raw Materials List.
The European Commission’s STRUBIAS proposals for EU Fertiliser Regulation criteria for struvite / phosphate salts, ashes and biochars, and ESPP’s comments are available at www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory
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The EU-funded LIFE project ENRICH (Enhanced Nitrogen and phosphorus Recovery in the value CHain), Sept. 2017 – Feb. 2021, will design, develop and implement integrated nutrient recovery and recycling in the sewage sludge recycling train of the Murcia Este municipal sewage works, Spain (500 000 p.e.) which operates biological phosphate removal. The project will include sludge elutriation to increase availability of soluble phosphorus and so increase the proportion of total sludge phosphorus recovered by struvite precipitation. Additionally are included ion exchange with zeolites (demonstrated high affinity for ammonium) combined with hollow fibre INPI membrane contactors for the recovery of ammonium salts, promotion of digested sewage sludge as a source of nutrients and organic carbon for agriculture, and optimised mixing of struvite – ammonium salts – digested sludge to correspond to agronomic requirements. The recovered products will be tested in field trials and a replicable business model will be developed. Membership of ESPP enables ENRICH to exchange experience with other relevant projects and companies (recycling technology suppliers, organic and mineral fertiliser industries and R&D centres) and to disseminate project results widely, both in Europe and worldwide, through ESPP’s communication tools (eNews, SCOPE Newsletter, website, Twitter) and specialist networks and meetings.
ENRICH is led by Cetaqua www.cetaqua.com, the Suez – Barcelona Technical University, CSIC water technology research centre. Contact
The European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) announced the launch of a new Thematic Group (TG) on ‘Sustainable management of water and soils’ within the broader multi-annual ENRD priority of ‘Supporting the transition to a green economy in rural areas’. This new TG will build upon the work carried out by the TG on Resource Efficient Rural Economy. In this TG, over the past year key rural development stakeholders actively discussed means of support for the integration of resource efficient activities in the implementation of rural development programmes, including topics such as soil, nutrients, carbon and water management (see eNews n° 11 and final TG report pending). The new TG will further investigate how to improve rural development policy implementation. It will work through 2017 and the first half of 2018 with the aim of providing specific recommendations on how Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) can best address issues related to water management, covering both its supply and quality, and soil management in agriculture as well as relevant aspects such as nutrient management plans. The new TG will bring together representatives of different stakeholder and beneficiary organisations, managing authorities and funding agencies, who will come together at regular intervals for four meetings and one final EU-level seminar. The first meeting of the group is planned for the 24th October 2017 in Brussels.
If you are interested in participating in this new TG or wish to be kept informed, please contact , or register athttps://form.jotformpro.com/72183763410958 as soon as possible (preferably by 28th August 2017)
The JRC ‘STRUBIAS’ proposed criteria for integrating ashes (as recycled nutrient fertilisers) into the revised EU Fertiliser Regulation effectively exclude sewage sludge incineration ash. The JRC proposals target only the use of ash directly on fields (e.g. after granulation or blending) but do not cover the use of ash as an input ingredient into a chemical / industrial process. The JRC proposals therefore fix contaminant limits and nutrient plant availability requirements which are appropriate for ash being used directly on fields, but are irrelevant if the ash is being chemically processed (contaminants can be removed, nutrients transformed into different forms). However, fertilisers using ashes as a production ingredient are currently excluded from the revised Fertilisers Regulations (CMC1 excludes wastes as inputs). ESPP has therefore developed proposed criteria for “ash as a process ingredient” to propose to the EU Fertiliser Regulation process. These raise questions concerning End-of-Waste, REACH, fate of removed contaminants and intermediates (e.g. phosphoric acid is recovered from ash, then re-processed to produce fertiliser). Input and comments to these ESPP proposals are invited by email:
JRC proposed Fertiliser Regulation criteria (“nutrient recovery rules”) for struvite (and other phosphate precipitates), biochars and ash (STRUBIAS) and ESPP proposals for “ash-as-an-ingredient” in the revised EU Fertilisers Regulations, for comment www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory
The EU Nitrates Directive specifies application limits for manure “even in a processed form” which are lower than those for mineral fertilisers. This is currently implemented differently across EU Member States, e.g. digestate or compost where manure is only a trace input can be limited as “processed manure”, or mineral fertiliser products produced from manure such as precipitated phosphates or ammonia salts from gas stripping can be subject to lower limits than similar mineral fertilisers produced from virgin materials. This can discriminate against recycled nutrient products made from or partly made from manure, by creating regulatory uncertainty, incoherence between different countries and regions or by more favourable application limits for virgin mineral fertilisers. ESPP is developing proposals to address this, whilst continuing to support the Nitrates Directives objectives of environmental protection and prevention of nutrient losses to surface and ground waters. Input to ESPP’s proposals is invited by email:
For further explanation see SCOPE Newsletter n° 100 - draft ESPP proposals concerning recycled nutrient products from manure (manure in a “processed form”) under the Nitrates Directive - for comments www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory
Budenheim is a global specialty chemicals company with long-term phosphate expertise. The company has production sites in Budenheim (Germany), Shanghai (China), Monterrey (Mexico), Columbus (USA), La Zaida and Valencia (Spain). Building on an innovative portfolio of products and services, Budenheim offers sustainable solutions for a broad range of applications. These include the fields of nutrition, health, safety, and preservation of resources. Budenheim generated revenue of several hundred million over the past year and has a worldwide workforce of around 1.100 employees. Budenheim has joined the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) because it brings together companies and stakeholders to address the need to secure phosphate resources for the future. In this community of like-minded partners, Budenheim is setting a new benchmark in raw material recycling by re-introducing phosphorus in the nutrient cycle, through the ExtraPhos® process (see below). As a member of ESPP, Budenheim acts to save global resources and to help secure the basis of our existence.
See for more information www.budenheim.com
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ESPP is developing an online listing of R&D projects addressing nutrient recycling, in order to facilitate exchange and knowledge transfer between projects and with potential user companies for recycling technologies and recycled nutrient products. Please consult the list currently online and send us information concerning any projects not yet included, or corrections to information included: www.phosphorusplatform.eu/R&D
ESPP is also developing a listing of research and PhD students working on phosphorus sustainability, in order to facilitate networking and contacts. If you wish to be included, or have research students we should include, in this list, please send us summary details: name, email, title of phosphorus related research underway:
In order to bring together nutrient recycling R&D and user industries:
European nutrient recycling event, Basel, 18th and 19th October: programme and registration (now open) www.nweurope.eu/phos4you
- Wednesday 18th October: workshop on implementation of the new German and Swiss legislations requiring phosphorus recovery from sewage (in German and English)
- Thursday 19th October: meeting of nutrient recycling R&D projects (presentations, posters), technology supplier stands, R&D project consortium brokerage
Workshops:
+ Recycled nutrient product qualities and standards
+ Nutrient recovery in the sewage works of the future
+ Life Cycle – Analysis (LCA) and – Costing (LCC)
+ Technology transfer from municipal sewage to / from manures and other streams
+ How to move from R&D to implementation
Speakers, panellists and workshop leaders include: European Commission, EIP AGRI, Newtrient USA, Gruppo CAP Milan, Veolia, Finland Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, Scotland Highlands & Islands, SYSTEMIC, INCOVER, SMART-Plant, Run4Life, VCM …
Upcoming events for your agenda:
5th September, Brussels, ESPP stakeholders meeting on EU Fertilisers Regulation revision and STRUBIAS proposals (struvite, biochar, ash). Contact if not already registered.
27-28 November, Eindhoven (NL), ManuREsource 2017 - International conference on manure management and valorisation. Stakeholder discussion on processed manure in the EU Nitrates Directive. 29th November: site visits to manure processing installations
Tuesday 12 December, Brussels, ESPP General Assembly 2017, on the use of recycled nutrient products in organic farming: implementation of EU Fertilisers Regulation, assessment of recycled products under EU Organic Farming Regulation, issues with contaminants, quality, safety, image and confidence
See more events at www.phosphorusplatform.eu/upcoming-events
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The European Commission (JRC) has circulated first draft “nutrient recovery rules” (outline for possible CMC – Component Material Category – criteria under the revised EU Fertilisers Regulation) for struvite (widened to recovered phosphate salts), biochars and pyrolysis products and ashes - STRUBIAS. The report and annexes include a detailed assessment explaining these proposed requirements. It is open to comment and can be consulted on the ESPP website www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory . Please note that the Commission will only accept comments submitted by members of the STRUBIAS Expert Group, which includes ESPP, DPP (German Phosphorus Platform), ECN, EBA, EFPRA, Suez, Vienna City, Italpollina and Fertilisers Europe, as well as Member State representatives. If you have comments, please therefore send to ESPP by end July (), because ESPP must submit consolidated comments in August. This will be discussed at ESPP’s stakeholder meeting with the European Commission on 5th September.
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ESPP has submitted comments to the EU public consultation on pharmaceuticals in the environment. ESPP underlines the importance of developing better knowledge concerning presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage biosolids and manures, fate and impact on soils and for agriculture, and removal of pharmaceuticals in sewage and manure treatments (e.g. sewage works, anaerobic digestion, composting). Among these topics there are important questions to maintaining recycling of sewage biosolids and manures to agriculture (safety, farmer and public confidence).
The European Commission has published a proposed ‘roadmap’ for a ‘Strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment’, open for public comment to 26th May 2017. The three page document specifies the relevant EU regulatory framework, in particular pharmacovigilance, and proposes to address particularly pharmaceuticals in water but also pharmaceuticals in soil as specified by pharmacovigilance. The Commission estimates that EU pharmaceutical consumption doubled from 1990 to 2000 and doubled again from 2000 to 2012. The ‘roadmap’ proposes as main objectives to identify knowledge gaps and solution to fill these, and to protect the environment whilst safeguarding access to effective and appropriate pharmaceutical treatments for humans and animals. Uncertainty about levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment and need for risk assessment are underlined.
ESPP has submitted comments to the EU public consultation on the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy). ESPP underlines the importance of phosphorus because of global food security and the environmental challenge of eutrophication, and underlines the importance of supporting phosphorus use efficiency and recycling in agriculture, in synergy with nitrogen management and return of organic carbon to soil. ESPP suggests to include in the CAP criteria and funding for closing nutrient cycles and for nutrient recycling, taking into account quality and safety, and including integration of nutrient management into farm, crop and food product sustainability criteria. Reference is made to the work of ENRD (European Network for Rural Development) working group on Resource Efficiency (underway) and the conclusions of the EIP-AGRI Focus Group 19 on “Recycled Nutrients” (See SCOPE Newsletter n°124).
EU public consultation on the Common Agricultural Policy, to 2nd May 2017 https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/consultations/cap-modernising/2017_en
The European Commission has published a proposed ‘roadmap’ for a ‘Strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment’, open for public comment to 26th May 2017. The three page document specifies the relevant EU regulatory framework, in particular pharmacovigilance, and proposes to address particularly pharmaceuticals in water but also pharmaceuticals in soil as specified by pharmacovigilance. The Commission estimates that EU pharmaceutical consumption doubled from 1990 to 2000 and doubled again from 2000 to 2012. The ‘roadmap’ proposes as main objectives to identify knowledge gaps and solution to fill these, and to protect the environment whilst safeguarding access to effective and appropriate pharmaceutical treatments for humans and animals. Uncertainty about levels of pharmaceuticals in the environment and need for risk assessment are underlined. ESPP is submitting comment to the EU to underline the importance of developing better knowledge concerning presence of pharmaceuticals in sewage biosolids and manures, fate and impact on soils and for agriculture, and removal of pharmaceuticals in sewage and manure treatments (e.g. sewage works, anaerobic digestion, composting), because of the importance of this question to maintaining recycling of sewage biosolids and manures to agriculture (safety, farmer and public confidence).
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The George Barley Water Prize (Everglades Foundation) has named its first winner as WETSUS Netherlands, with the NaFRAd project (Natural Flocculation Reversible Adsorption). WETSUS (European Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Water Technology) takes home the US$ 25 000 prize for the Prize Stage 1. After winning Stage 1, the Wetsus team is now preparing its submission for the second stage which requires testing and demonstrating at the laboratory lab scale.
Stage 2 of the Prize is open to organisations worldwide, whether or not they participated in Stage 1. Deadline: 15th July 2017, see below.
The WETSUS NaFRAd technology proposes a combination of flocculation with natural flocculants and reversible adsorption with high capacity iron based adsorbents. This can remove both particulate and soluble phosphorus with minimal waste generation. The phosphorus can be recovered as calcium phosphate for use in the fertiliser industry. These technologies reflect the WETSUS research themes Phosphate Recovery and Natural Flocculants.
WETSUS is a partner of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform, and has for example developed with ESPP a regularly updated listing of publications providing overviews and comparisons of phosphorus recovery technologies (http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu > Activities > P-recovery Technology Inventory). WETSUS also regularly provides articles for ESPP’s SCOPE Newsletter reviewing scientific publications on phosphorus recycling technologies.
Photo: March 22, West Palm Beach, Florida: George Barley Water Prize Stage 1 winner WETSUS, represented by Prasanth Kumar , with Nathalie Olijslager-Jaarsma, Consul General of the Netherlands, Jim King, Scotts Miracle Gro, Mary Barley, Board Member of the Everglades Foundation and Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation.
Stage 2 of the Prize is currently open for applications from teams capable of testing their solution for two consecutive weeks processing c. 24 litres/hour (see exact specifications in application materials). Applicants will submit daily inflow and outflow samples from their technology. A total of $80,000 will be awarded in November of this year to the top 3 teams in Stage 2. Applicants to Stage 2 need not have applied to Stage 1. The deadline to request Stage 2 application materials is 15 July 2017 and the deadline to submit applications is 31 August 2017.
The Pilot Stage, the third stage of the George Barley Water Prize, will qualify 10 teams to compete at a Pilot location in Canada in early 2018, with awards totalling $800,000. Finally, the Grand Prize will see the top 4 teams compete in Florida for the ultimate $10 million award.
Stage 1 of the George Barley Water Prize is the first milestone of the 4-year prize which will reward with US$ 10 million the most cost-effective, scalable technology that thoroughly removes and recovers phosphorus from freshwater bodies. Over 75 applicants from all over the globe submitted proposals to Stage 1 (from a total of 181 initial entries). Entries came primarily from the United States, but also from Canada, India, Belgium, Germany, Australia, China, Japan, Indonesia, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and Israel. The prize nominated 15 finalists for Stage 1, and these are summarised below.
George Barley Water Prize, funded by the Everglades Foundation and with support from Ontario, Xylem, Miracle Gro and Knight Foundation http://www.barleyprize.com
The 15 stage 1 finalists are as summarised below
(see also on the Prize website: go to “Entries” and search by project name)
The fifteen George Barley Water Prize Stage 1 finalists:
Technologies including phosphorus adsorbents
Biological systems
High technology solutions
Iron-based phosphorus removal
This report of the The George Barley Prize is here available in PDF.
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ESPP has submitted input to the EU’s public consultation on the REFIT (assessment of fitness for purpose) of the EU Chemical Regulation 1907/2006 (“REACH”). ESPP considers the Regulation as having improved information about chemicals used in Europe, so contributing to public confidence and safety. ESPP’s specific comments noted that the exemption of digestate from REACH should be confirmed; underlined the importance for the nutrient circular economy of Art. 2(7)d which specifies that sites producing “recovered substances” (e.g. struvite recovered from wastewaters) do not have to register under REACH (subject to certain conditions) but noted that clarification is needed to ensure fair sharing of costs and administration for this disposition; and noted that adaptation of REACH should be considered to facilitate registration of recovered nutrient products covered by the EU Fertilisers Regulation (after revision is completed), subject to ensuring safety. REACH is complex to apply to variable or organic substances, such as many recycled nutrient products, and partly inappropriate because it is intended to address the substance, and not impurities, which will be specified in the Fertilisers Regulation.
Following the legislative developments in Switzerland and Germany, Austria is now also opting for madatory P recovery from municipal sewage sludge. The draft Federal Waste Plan 2017 (Bundes-Abfallwirtschaftsplan) includes a ban of direct land application or composting for sewage sludge generated at Wastewater Treatment Plants with capacities of 20,000 p.e. or above within a transition phase of 10 yeras. (see chapter 7.5 in the waste plan part 1, link below). Alternatively, these WWTP will have to recover the P from sludge onsite targeting P contents below 20 g P / kg dry solids or have to deliver their sludge to sludge mono-incinerators. The P is then to be reovered from the sewage sludge ashes obtained. This regulation will cover 90% of the P contained in the Austrian municipal wastewater.
Link to Austrian Ministry of the Environment and draft waste plan:
https://www.bmlfuw.gv.at/greentec/bundes-abfallwirtschaftsplan/BAWP2017.html
On January 18th, the new sewage sludge ordinance has passed the German cabinet. It is supposed to pass the parliament and Federal Council of Germany before summer. Intended dates are 31 March for the parliament and 12 May for the council. After more than 10 years of revision and heated debates, the new draft of the German sewage sludge ordinance was sent by the Federal Ministry of Environment (BMUB) to the European Commission (EC) for notification at September 26th 2016. The notification to EC is a typical procedure for new Member State regulations according to directive 2015/1535/EU. The EC has approved without remarks by 27 Dec 2016. The content cannot be changed afterwards except for minor adaptions.
Once approved by both chambers, the new sewage sludge ordinance may enter into force by 1st January 2018. This step will make phosphorus (P) recovery from sewage sludge obligatory for all German wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) larger than 50,000 person equivalents (p.e.), equal to ~500 WWTP out of ~9300 WWTP. They will have to recover the phosphorus if the sludge contains more than 2% phosphorus /DS (dry solids) or have to incinerate the sludge in mono-incinerators. Land application of sludge will only be allowed for WWTP < 50,000 p.e. These ~500 WWTP represent roughly 66% of the total phosphorus removed from German wastewater and transferred into the sludge.
The WWTP above 100,000 p.e. will have to fulfill the new phosphorus recovery requirements by 2029, after a 12 years transition period. The WWTP of 50,000 to 100,000 p.e. get three additional years for implementation. All effected WWTP have to develop phosphorus recovery concepts by 2023.
Currently, 26% of sewage sludge is spread on arable land. This fraction is expected to half as a consequence of the new fertilising ordinance (DüV) and sewage sludge ordinance (AbfKlärV) entering into force. The fertilising ordinance is the German implementation of the nitrates directive and will strongly affect sludge disposal and valorisation in Germany already next year.
Official press release in German:
http://www.bmub.bund.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pm/artikel/deutschland-soll-phosphor-aus-klaerschlamm-gewinnen/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=82