Presenter: Chris Thornton European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) www.phosphorusplatform.eu Sustainable management of nutrients is crucial for agriculture, food, industry, water and the environment. ESPP brings together companies and stakeholders to address the Phosphorus Challenge and its opportunities for the circular economy. Countries: Austria AT, Belgium BE, Bulgaria BG, Cyprus CY, Czech Republic CZ, Germany DE, Denmark DK, Estonia EE, Spain ES, Finland FI, France FR, Greece EL, Hungary HU, Ireland IE, Italy IT, Lithuania LT, Luxembourg LU, Latvia LV, Malta MT, Netherlands NL, Poland PL, Portugal PT, Romania RO, Sweden SE, Slovenia SI, Slovakia SK, United Kingdom UK, Switzerland CH Phosphorus, Fosfor, Fòsfòrm, Фосфор, Fosforas, Fosfors, Fuosfuors, Ffуsfforws, Fosfar, Fosfaar, Fosforus, Φωσφορος, Ֆոսֆոր, ફૉસ્ફરસનો, फास्फोरस, Fosfori, Foszfor, Паликандур, Фосфор,فوسفور, Fosforoa, ფოსფორი, [fūsfūr], Fosfru, Lìn, リン, 인, ฟอสฟอรัส, Photpho, 磷, Posporo, Pūtūtae-whetū, ഫോസ്ഫറസ്, பொஸ்பரசு, Fosofo, Fosforase, Posfori, Fósforo, Phusphuru, Fosforimi, Fosforo, Fosforon, Pesticium

1. 28th November 2018 – n°1
The EU Fertilisers Regulation
Why it is important for the Circular Economy
Chris Thornton - European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform
info@phosphorusplatform.eu www.phosphorusplatform.eu @phosphorusfacts

2. 28th November 2018 – n°2
Without mineral phosphate fertilisers
we could feed
maybe 1/5th
of the current
world population
Adapted from Dawson et al., Food Policy 2011:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03069192
https://phosphorusalliance.org

3. 28th November 2018 – n°3
Pressure to reduce nutrient losses
• Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive 1991/271
• Nitrates Directive 1991/676
• Water Framework Directive 2000/2000
- quality objectives 2015 / 2021 / 2027
• Groundwater Directive 2006/118
- phosphorus on monitoring list (2014)
 Phosphorus is first cause of (non-morphological)
quality status failure under the EU Water Framework Directive
 55% of UK rivers and 74% of lakes exceed P level for good ecological status
3 July 2018

4. 28th November 2018 – n°4
Pressure to reduce nutrient losses
Proposed new CAP (Common Agricultural Policy)
• EU Commission proposal 1 June 2018
• “Farm Sustainability Tool for Nutrients” (FaST)
- information on farm, crops, management
- complete nutrient budget
• Conditionality requirements:
- control of diffuse pollution by phosphates
- nitrate leakages
… buffer strips, soil management …
https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-
policy/future-cap_en

5. 28th November 2018 – n°5
Pressure to reduce nutrient losses
National Emissions Ceilings Directive (NECD) revision
- ammonia emissions
- Ammonia  particulates  health impacts
- 98% of ammonia emissions from agriculture
- 2016 NECD revision:
- 19% reduction target for ammonia by 2030
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pollutants/ceilings.htm

6. 28th November 2018 – n°6
Pressure to recycle phosphorus
Phosphate is on the
EU Critical Raw Materials List since 2014
and White Phosphorus since 2017
 Non substitutable
 Non renewable
 Geopolitical resource concentration
 EU 90% dependent
on imports
https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_en
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-599_en.htm

7. 28th November 2018 – n°7
Pressure to recycle phosphorus
Switzerland
• 2016 Decree makes phosphorus recovery
obligatory by 2026
from sewage sludge incineration ash* and
meat and bone meal ash
* Switzerland banned land use
of sewage biosolids in 2006
• Still under discussion:
- %P recovery to be required
- recycled fertiliser criteria
(Bundesrat decision expected 24/10/2018)
Scope Newsletter n°118 http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/scope118
Scope Newsletter n°121 http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/scope121

8. 28th November 2018 – n°8
Pressure to recycle phosphorus
Germany
• Legislation May 2017
makes phosphorus recovery obligatory
- within 12/15 years
- for all wwtp > 50 000 p.e.
- if sewage sludge P > 2% of dry matter
• Interpretation under discussion:
%P depends on organics: change with hydrolysis, digestion  will favour mono-incineration
• Requires to either recover >50% of P or to reduce sludge P to <2%
• Land sewage biosolids use banned for larger sewage works,
and lower contaminant limits will reduce spreading for smaller works

9. 28th November 2018 – n°9
Pressure to recycle phosphorus
Baltic
• HELCOM:
8 EU Member States, plus Russia and the EU
• “Recommendation” March 2017 = obligation
- maximise phosphorus and other useful substance recycling
- regular State reporting on measures taken to implement this
• Ministerial Declaration March 2018:
- define Nutrient Recycling Strategy by 2020

10. 28th November 2018 – n°10
Pressure to recycle phosphorus
Sweden
• 13 July 2018: Government announces ‘enquiry’into
- ban on agricultural use of sewage sludge
- phosphorus recycling regulation
http://www.government.se/press-releases/2018/07/inquiry-to-propose-ban-on-spreading-sewage-sludge-on-
farmland-and-a-phosphorus-recycling-requirement
• Currently working on regulatory proposal
• Conclusions expected mid 2019?

11. 28th November 2018 – n°11
P recycling potential in EU-27
[kton P/year] Total Recycled Potential
Sewage sludge 297 115 182
Biodegradable solid waste 130 38 92
Meat & bone meal 128 6 122
Total 427-555 153-160 274-396
Manure recycling = 1 736
Mineral fertiliser use = 1 448
Van Dijk et al. “Phosphorus flows and balances of the European Union Member States”, Science of the Total Environment Volume 542, Part B, 15
January 2016, Pages 1078-1093 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.048

12. 28th November 2018 – n°12
EU Fertilisers
Regulation
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/world/europe/russia-europe-fertilizer-regulation.html
https://intpolicydigest.org/2018/11/17/the-eu-and-the-strategy-of-the-russian-fertilizer-industry/

13. 28th November 2018 – n°13
EU Fertilisers Regulation
20th November 2018
Political agreement in
“trilogue” (Council – Parliament – Commission)
- final technical wording issues  before end 2018?
- then compromise proposal goes to
- Member States Ambassadors
- Parliament IMCO Committee
- Then finally for final approval
- Parliament Plenary
- Member States Ministers
November 2018: Joint letter coordinated by ESPP, signed by over 100 companies and other
stakeholders, asking for Regulation adoption www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory

14. 28th November 2018 – n°14
EU Fertilisers Regulation
Flagship of Commission ‘Circular Economy Package’
Ambitious:
- covers all fertilisers (mineral & organic), plant materials, composts & digestates,
soil amendments, growing media, biostimulants, liming materials, etc.
Precedent: first EU Product Legislation to confer “End-of-Waste” status
Commission proposal March 2016 http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/15949
Parliament position October 2017 http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-13610-2017-INIT/en/pdf
Council position December 2017 http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-14010-2017-REV-1/en/pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/15949

15. 28th November 2018 – n°15
EU Fertilisers Regulation proposal
• Future markets will have both “National”
and CE-mark fertilising products
(plus materials used under “waste” legislation or similar
e.g. sewage biosolids, manures …)
• Food & beverage companies & supermarkets may specify
use only of EU-label fertilisers and soil amendments in
crop purchasing or sustainability criteria ?
• EU Regulation will open the European market for
recycling technologies

16. 28th November 2018 – n°16
EU Fertilisers
Regulation (proposal)
A CE-mark product must respect all of:
- Annex I PFCs
= Product Function Categories
- Annex II CMCs
= Component Material Categories
- Annex III = Labelling Requirements
- Annex IV = Conformity Assessment Procedures
If you thought ‘CMC’s
were input materials and
‘PFC’s were finished
products … then you’ve
maybe got it partly right,
but it’s not that simple.

17. 28th November 2018 – n°17
EU Fertilisers Regulation
(proposal)
PFCs (Product Function Category)
1. Fertiliser
Organic / Organo-mineral /
Low-carbon (<1% Corg)? / Inorganic
2. Liming material
3. Soil improvers (organic / inorganic)
4. Growing medium
5. Agronomic additive
6. Plant biostimulants
7. Blends
CMCs (Component Material Category)
1. Virgin materials
2. Mechanically processed plants
3. Compost
4-5. Digestates
6. Food industry by-products
7. Micro-organisms
8. Agronomic additives
9-10. Nutrient & other polymers
[11. Animal by-products]
Plus underway (STRUBIAS):
- recovered phosphate salts
- ashes
- biochars / pyrolysis / HTC materials

18. 28th November 2018 – n°18
EU Fertilisers Regulation some outstanding issues
Industry Joint Statement 20th November 2017
see www.phoshorusplatform.eu/regulatory
• “Mineral” (<1% organic carbon) and “Low-carbon” fertilisers
• Resolve exclusion of industry by-products
• Importance of implementation guidance
and assessment of Regulation implementation .
• Co-existence of production lines (CE and National fertilisers on same production site)
• Confirm & accelerate “STRUBIAS” process .
• Polymers: feasible and appropriate biodegradability criteria
• Animal By Products (ABPs)
• Respect normal REACH requirements
• Widen:
CMC4 (Energy Crop Digestate), CMC3 (Compost),
CMC5 (Other digestates), CMC6 (Food Industry By-Products), CMC2 (Processed Plant Materials)

19. 28th November 2018 – n°19
EU Fertilisers Regulation some outstanding issues
Industry Joint Statement 20th November 2017
see www.phoshorusplatform.eu/regulatory
• Ensure appropriate sanitisation for “biowastes”
• Labelling: ensure workability, legibility, …
• Avoid “double sanitisation” of ABPs / animal manures
• Maintain COM delegation for Annexes
• Phosphorus solubility: in water or citric acid or NAC,
coherence between PFCs and labelling
• Clarify definitions of “product lot” (Annex IV) – where and when measured
• Biostimulants: enable innovation in new microorganisms
• Improve definition for PFC 2 Liming Materials
• Contaminants: should not lower limits without scientific justification
• Arsenic limit should be expressed as inorganic arsenic
• Copper and zinc are micronutrients: require labelling, not limits

20. 28th November 2018 – n°20
Pressure to recycle nutrients
= business opportunities
”La Belle Bouse” (beautiful cowpat)
• Lyon based startup
• Locally sourced organic fertiliser for households
from cattle manure
• “matured for 9 months like a great cheese”
http://www.labellebouse.fr/

21. 28th November 2018 – n°21
Business opportunities:
ICL fertilisers Amsterdam
& Ludwigshaven
• Use of secondary materials in fertiliser production:
- meat and bone meal ash, struvite
• Pilot testing successful
• Industrial installations
(storage, handling) underway
www.icl-group.com

22. 28th November 2018 – n°22
Business opportunities:
Yara : nitrogen recovery
from municipal waste, Oslo
• Ammonia stripping
in VEAS municipal waste anaerobic digester
650 000 t/y municipal waste
• 12-15% of input nitrogen recovered as ammonium nitrate
http://www.circulary.eu/project/yara-recovery/

23. 28th November 2018 – n°23
Business
opportunities:
Ecophos P-recycling from sewage sludge ash
• Production of DCP (Di Calcium Phosphate) for fertilisers, animal feed
• Dunkerque, France
• First line operational since 1/2018: 220 000 t/y DCP from low grade P-rock
• Second line in authorisation phase:
will input c. 100 000 t/y of sewage sludge incineration ash
and other secondary raw materials
• Already contracted 60 000 t/y ash from Netherlands (SNB – HVC Groep)

24. 28th November 2018 – n°24
Business opportunities:
struvite recovery
• Recovery of struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphonate)
from sewage works operating biological phosphorus removal,
from food industry wastewaters …
• High quality mineral pellets, slow release fertiliser
• 30+ full scale plants operating worldwide
• Technology suppliers include: Ostara, Véolia, Suez …
• World’s largest struvite recovery facility:
- Ostara Pearl® Chicago sewage works since 2017
- Gulf of Mexico eutrophication sensitive zone
- Treating sewage sludge digestate for 4,5 M people
- Approx. 10 000 t/year struvite

25. 28th November 2018 – n°25
Business opportunities:
Timac (Roullier Group):
struvite as maize starter fertiliser
• Fertiliser industry added-value for recycled nutrients
• NuReSys recovered struvite from potato processing
• Non-burning,
enabling “ultra localisation” next to roots
• Micro-granulation
• Ammonium addition for nutrient balance

26. 28th November 2018 – n°26
Business opportunities:
Paques Thiopaq sulphur recovery from biogas
• Alkaline gas-stripping from sewage treatment
• Biological reactor conversion to elemental sulphur
• Nutrient needed in many soils/crops, important for nitrogen uptake
• Hydrophilic sulphur crystals in suspension offer
better agronomic properties than sulphur
from refineries or chemical acid production
• 25 000 t/y production of biosulphur
– most used in local fertilisers
• 2 000 t/y site marketed in 100ml – 800 litres
for gardeners, farmers …
https://en.paques.nl/products/featured/thiopaq

27. 28th November 2018 – n°27
Business opportunities:
Italpollina plants nutrition
• Range of organic and organo-mineral fertilisers,
biostimulants and plant nutrition products
• For conventional and organic farming
• Input materials include:
- processed manures and animal by-products
- food industry by-products, e.g. stillage
- vegetal cakes and meals
- micro-organisms like P solubilizers
• Sales in 80 countries, 5 plants and R&D laboratories,
• 200 000 t/y organic fertilisers
• 5 Ml/y biostimulants
www.italpollina.com

28. 28th November 2018 – n°28
Business opportunities :
Fertikal, Antwerp
• 180 000 t/y (wet weight) manure
processed to organic fertilisers:
• solid/liquid separation
dried, pelletised
• For agriculture, horticulture
• Distributed
to 25 countries worldwide
www.fertikal.be

29. 28th November 2018 – n°29
Business opportunities:
Véolia UK: fertilisers from wastes
Pro-Grow: 10 UK composting sites producing 200 000 t/year soil conditioners
from green & food wastes. All grades have “product” status and PAS100 certified
Granulation factory at Livingstone, near Edinburgh – capacity 20 000 t/y
Currently: fertilisers from food industry by-product ashes,
liming materials, micro-nutrient fertilisers
Under development:
recycled fertilisers
(End-of-Waste target 2018)

30. 28th November 2018 – n°30
ESPP:
a coalition for action
• Wide objectives:
phosphorus stewardship
- global food security
- circular economy
- environmental protection
- healthy diet and food safety
• Bringing together:
- water & waste industries,
- mineral and organic fertilisers, chemicals,
- P-recycling technology suppliers,
- national & regional governments,
- knowledge institutes …
• Actions:
- vision & awareness
- stakeholders & networking
- dissemination
- policy and regulation dialogue
More information: www.phosphorusplatform.eu
http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/members

31. 28th November 2018 – n°31
How ESPP operates
Legally established
not-for-profit association
 important for transparency,
clarity of decision making,
representation
- statutes are public https://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/platform/about-espp
- EU Transparency Register no. 260483415852-40 http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/
100% membership funded
 key to credibility, independence
- approx. 40 paying members to date: companies, R&D institutes or projects, cities / regions / governments
 balance between different interests and industries
 in touch with reality (payment = commitment)
http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/members

32. 28th November 2018 – n°32
Nutrient platforms and networks worldwide
Netherlands 2010 http://www.nutrientplatform.org/
Germany 2015 www.deutsche-phosphor-plattform.de
Baltic: ESPP works with Baltic Sea Action Group www.bsag.fi
ESPP European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform 2013
North America Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance (SPA) 2017
(launched as NAPPS in 2015) https://phosphorusalliance.org/
Japan PCPR 2011 (Phosphorus Recycling Promotion Council)
Global Partnership for Nutrient Management (UNEP)
http://www.unep.org/gpa/what-we-do/global-partnership-nutrient-management

33. 28th November 2018 – n°33
Email: Chris Thornton
info@phosphorusplatform.eu
Website: www.phosphorusplatform.eu
News @phosphorusfacts
http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/members

34. 28th November 2018 – n°34
“STRUBIAS” (Struvite, Biochar and Ash*)
* Now “precipitated phosphate salts & derivates, thermal oxidation materials & derivates and pyrolysis & gasification materials”)
To define Fertilisers Regulation criteria for these materials (as CMCs)
- Commission agreed to start definition of criteria for these materials in 2016
- DG GROW mandate to JRC: February 2016
- JRC draft report May 2017 and draft market report December 2017
- Pre-Final Report 13th August 2018 – online at www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory
- Final STRUBIAS meeting 25-27 Sept. 2018 – report online at www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory
- Pre-Final Report 13th August 2018 – online at www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory
Finally: DG GROW will translate into CMC legal text to add to Annex II (hopefully)
NOTE: STRUBIAS CMCs can only be added to Regulation by Commission
if Council and Parliament retain Commission “delegation” for Annexes

35. 28th November 2018 – n°35
“STRUBIAS” Pre-Final Report and final meeting conclusions
Comments made largely taken into account
 Existing criteria in PFCs are not duplicated
 Dilution of contaminants in ash (if ‘Hazardous’)
 Processed ash addressed
= use of ash in fertiliser production or in
thermochemical reprocessing
 Similarly: processed phosphate salts
Issues outstanding
 Sewage authorised as input
for struvite / phosphate salts and ashes
but not for biochars and pyrolysis products
 Conformity assessment requirements?
(Annex IV: Module D1 “quality assurance of the production process”)
 Exclusion of Animal By-Product Cat1 ash
Key section pf JRC Pre-Final Report is
proposed CMC criteria: ch2. = pages 34-39
Online www.phosphorusplatform.eu/regulatory

36. 28th November 2018 – n°36
EU manure recycled nutrient products study
European Commission (DG ENVI & JRC Ispra) study
on recycled nutrient products from manures
for the Nitrates Directive (“processed manures”)
Priority materials:
- ammonium mineral products from stripping
- reverse osmosis products (“mineral concentrates”)
- precipitated phosphate salts (e.g. struvites)
- liquid fraction of solid/liquid separated manures and digestates
- products with high organic content
Study will assess: agronomic efficiency, risk of N losses to water and air, environment & health risks
and will develop a standard protocol for testing nitrogen release
Contacts: JRC Bernd.GAWLIK@ec.europa.eu EG ENVI Wim Debeuckelaere Wim.DEBEUCKELAERE@ec.europa.eu

37. 28th November 2018 – n°37
The EU Fertilisers Regulation
Why it is important for the Circular Economy
Chris Thornton - European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform
info@phosphorusplatform.eu www.phosphorusplatform.eu @phosphorusfacts