This document provides information on phosphorus and nutrient management in the EU context. It summarizes the work of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) including its goals of phosphorus stewardship, circular economy, and policy engagement. It also outlines ESPP activities, membership, funding, and partnerships with other nutrient platforms worldwide. Key EU policies around agriculture, water, waste, and fertilizers are discussed. Ongoing and upcoming Horizon 2020 projects on nutrient recovery and recycling are listed. Plans for the Horizon Europe research program beginning in 2021 are previewed, including its structure and proposed missions.

1. 12 July 2019 - n° 1
Phosphorus in EU research
Chris Thornton - European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform
info@phosphorusplatform.eu www.phosphorusplatform.eu @phosphorusfacts

2. 12 July 2019 - 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
Without Haber-Bosch
(mineral nitrogen fertilisers)
We could feed half
of the world population
Fertilizers Europe / Wageningen University https://phosphorusalliance.org
Betterdataorreferenceswouldbevery
welcome!

3. 12 July 2019 - n° 3
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

4. 12 July 2019 - n° 4
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

5. 12 July 2019 - n° 5
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 PIDO 2011 (Phosphorus Industry Development Organization of Japan) www.pido.or.jp
Global Partnership for Nutrient Management (UNEP)
http://www.unep.org/gpa/what-we-do/global-partnership-nutrient-management

6. 12 July 2019 - n° 6
EU policy context
Source: Pavel Misiga, DG RTD at ESPC3 2017, see ESPP SCOPE Newsletter n°127

7. 12 July 2019 - n° 7
EU policy context
• Water policy (eutrophication, groundwater)
• Air quality (ammonia emissions - NECD)
• Critical Raw Materials
(“phosphate rock”, white phosphorus P4)
• Circular Economy
• Agriculture
• International trade
• (Food and health?)
Source of diagram: Pavel Misiga, DG RTD at ESPC3 2017, see ESPP SCOPE Newsletter n°127

8. 12 July 2019 - n° 8
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

9. 12 July 2019 - n° 9
EU Fertilising Products Regulation
• Flagship of Commission ‘Circular Economy Package’
• All fertilisers (mineral & organic), plant materials, composts & digestates,
soil amendments, growing media, biostimulants, liming materials, etc.
• First EU product legislation to confer “End-of-Waste” status
• STRUBIAS underway: struvite/phosphate salts, biochars/pyrolysis
materials, ash-based materials
• Opens European market for:
- organic fertilisers, composts, digestates …
- recycled fertilisers
- recycling technologies
Published 25th June 2019: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L:2019:170:TOC

10. 12 July 2019 - n° 10
National policy contexts
• Switzerland:
2016 : P-recovery obligatory by 2026
(sewage, animal by products)
• Germany:
2017: P-recovery obligatory within 12/15 years
(all wwtp > 50 000 p.e., if sewage sludge P > 2% DM)
• HELCOM: Nutrient Recycling Strategy by 2020
• Sweden:
2018: Government ‘enquiry’ launched
into P-recycling regulation

11. 12 July 2019 - n° 11
EU R&D funding
• R&D funding:
- FP7 (e.g. P-REX project)
- Horizon 2020
- Horizon Europe (2021-2028)
• Agriculture R&D funding
• DG ENVI: - LIFE
• DG REGIO: - InterReg
• National /regional programmes:
- e.g. Baltic Bonus

12. 12 July 2019 - n° 12
Horizon 2020 status
Open calls End date
BBI-2019-SO1-D2 Produce components for various materials, including for food and feed, from microalgae 04/09/19
BBI-2019-SO1-F1 Valorise the organic fraction of municipal solid waste through an integrated biorefinery at commercial level 04/09/19
BBI-2019-SO2-F2 Apply technological combinations to valorise all components of biomass feedstock 04/09/19
BBI-2019-SO2-R2
Develop breakthrough technologies to improve the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of pre-treatment steps within biorefining
operations
04/09/19
CE-SC5-08-2020 Raw materials policy support actions for the circular economy - Expert network on Critical Raw Materials 05/02/2020
CE-SC5-07-2020 Raw materials innovation for the circular economy: sustainable processing, reuse, recycling and recovery schemes 05/02/2020
CE-NMBP-42-2020 Materials life cycle sustainability analysis 05/02/2020
CE-SPIRE-01-2020 Tapping into the potential of Industrial Symbiosis 05/02/2020
Upcoming calls
CE-RUR-08-2018-2019-2020 Closing nutrient cycles - IA Innovation action + RIA Research and Innovation action 22/01/2020
CE-FNR-17-2020 Pilot circular bio-based cities – sustainable production of bio-based products from urban biowaste and wastewater 22/01/2020
CE-FNR-15-2020 A network of European bioeconomy clusters to advance bio-based solutions in the primary production sector 22/01/2020
FNR-04-2020 Towards a European research and innovation roadmap on soils and land management 22/01/2020
RUR-07-2020 Reducing food losses and waste along the agri-food value chain 22/01/2020
LC-FNR-06-2020 Defossilising agriculture – solutions and pathways for fossil-energy-free farming 22/01/2020
FNR-18-2020 Sustainability of bio-based products – international governance aspects and market update 22/01/2020
See http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/R&D

13. 12 July 2019 - n° 13
Some current EU-funded projects
ENRICH * Enhanced N & P Recovery from wastewater … LIFE
REFLOW * P REcovery for FertiLisers frOm dairy processing Waste Marie Curie
Run4Life * Recovery and Utilisation of Nutrients for Low Impact Fertiliser H2020
SMART-Plant * Low-carbon footprint material recovery in wwtps H2020
SYSTEMIC * Demo. nutrient recovery from manure, sewage sludge, food waste H2020
LEX4BIO * Optimising bio-based fertilisers in agriculture H2020
B-FERST Bio-based FERtilising products best practice H2020
SUSFERT Sustainable multifunctional fertiliser BBI-JI
P-TRAP Diffuse P input to surface waters: removal, recycling, management H2020
NUTRI2CYCLE Carbon and nutrient efficient agriculture in Europe H2020
Circular Agronomics Carbon, N & P cycling in EU agri-food system H2020
PhosForce Technologies for P recovery from municipal wastewater EIT Raw Materials
Water2REturn REcovery and REcycling of nutrients H2020
NuReDrain Nutrient Removal and Recovery from drainage water InterReg
ReNu2Farm Nutrient Recycling – pilot production to farms and fields InterReg
Green-DROP Precise subarea specific irrigation and fertilization system H2020
InPhos Sustainable P Management in Baltic countries EIT Raw Materials
GreenAgri Environmentally-friendly Management of Organic Fertilizers InterReg
* = ESPP member. NOTE: other projects are funded but not yet started, e.g. Fertimanure
See http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/R&D

14. 12 July 2019 - n° 14
Horizon Europe
• 2021 – 2028
• EU’s 9th R&D Framework Programme
• around 100 billion
€ EU funding
Source of diagram: Neville Reeve,
DG RTD at IAFSS 12/2019

15. 12 July 2019 - n° 15
Horizon Europe – current status
• 4/7/19 Horizon Europe “Missions” announced
https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/commission-launches-work-major-research-and-innovation-missions-cancer-climate-oceans-and-soil-2019-jul-04_en
• 17/4/19: 1st Reading position EU Parliament
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2019-0395_EN.pdf
• 7/6/2018: European Commission proposal published FP9 regulation
proposal published 7/6/18
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-4041_en.htm
and https://ec.europa.eu/info/designing-next-research-and-innovation-framework-programme/what-shapes-next-framework-programme_en

16. 12 July 2019 - n° 16
Horizon Europe – time to engage
• Public consultation on Horizon Europe open to 8th September 2019
https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/have-your-say-future-objectives-eu-funded-research-and-innovation-2019-jun-28_en
and https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/HorizonEurope_Codesign_2021-2024
• Public consultation expected to open soon on BBI / partnership
around circular bio-based Europe
• Horizon Europe info days, Brussels, 24-26 September 2019
https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/events/cf/european-research-and-innovation-days/programme.cfm?id=452&day=24e

17. 12 July 2019 - n° 17
Horizon Europe
– structure
Pillars:
- Excellent Science (inc. Marie-Curie)
- “Global Challenges
and European Industrial Competitiveness”
- Innovative Europe (inc. SMEs = now EIC)
- Widening participation & ERA
Clusters:
• Health
• Culture, inclusive society
• Civil security
• Digital & space
• Climate, energy, mobility
• Food, bioeconomy, natural
resources, agriculture &
environment
• JRC
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Five “Missions” - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

18. 12 July 2019 - n° 18
Horizon Europe
– “Missions”
 Adaptation to Climate Change including Societal Transformation
 Cancer
 Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters
 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
 Soil Health and Food
Mission objectives: “boost the impact of EU-funded research
and innovation by mobilising investment and EU wide efforts
around measurable and time-bound goals around issues that
affect citizens’ daily lives.”
Mission “Board” for “Soil health and food”
chaired by Cees Veerman
(former Dutch Agriculture Minister)

19. 12 July 2019 - n° 19
Horizon Europe
– “Partnerships”
DG RTD may propose a Horizon 2020 “Partnership” on “Nutrients”
Other “Partnership projects: food safety & diet
See: https://www.era-learn.eu/documents/provisions_horizoneurope
Partnerships must involve member states and private or
public organisations (farmers organisations, companies,
universities …)
Develop a specific programme of R&D
Can be related to market, regulatory or policy uptake

20. 12 July 2019 - n° 20
ESPP and research
• 1st European nutrient research event, Berlin 2015
at ESPC2 (European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference)
with FP7 project P-REX, see ESPP SCOPE Newsletter n°111
conclusions published by European Commission
http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/circular-approaches approaches approaches-to -phosphorus -pbKI0115204/ pbKI0115204/ pbKI0115204/
• 2nd European nutrient research event, Basel 2017
with InterReg project Phos4You, see ESPP eNews n°16
• 3rd European nutrient research event, Rimini 2018
with Horizon2020 project SMART-Plant, see ESPP eNews n°28
• 4th European nutrient research event - planned at ESPC4
Vienna, 15-17 June 2020 https://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/espc4

21. 12 July 2019 - n° 21
ESPP inventory
of nutrient R&D projects
Over 230 projects listed
Referenced by DG RTD
as only inventory of nutrient R&D projects
See: http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/R&D

22. 12 July 2019 - n° 22
SCOPE Newsletter summary
“best of” phosphorus science
• SCOPE Newsletter n°128 (2018)
• Policy-maker summaries
of 48 selected recent publications
(articles, books, reports)
• Update planned …
www.phosphorusplatform.eu/Scope128

23. 12 July 2019 - n° 23
ESPP and research – ESPP membership
• Visibility and recognition
• Networking
• Dissemination
- ESPP eNews and SCOPE Newsletter = 44 000 email circulation, 15% detected opening rate
ESPP membership for R&D projects = 2 000 €/year

24. 12 July 2019 - n° 24
Chris Thornton
info@phosphorusplatform.eu
Website: www.phosphorusplatform.eu
News @phosphorusfacts
http://www.phosphorusplatform.eu/members