This fertilizer, produced using a special method, could be an interesting alternative for farmers with large-scale operations compared to conventional fertilizers currently on the market. This is because their high-yield crops require phosphate mineral fertilizers. Furthermore, the recycled phosphorus obtained in the new plant is expected to be less problematic than that mined from nature. However, the recycling plant is not just beneficial for ecological reasons.
A way out of the phosphorus crisis—this could be achieved with the new processing plant. The cause of the crisis, however, is not a scarcity of the raw material phosphorus, as many believe. According to current estimates, natural phosphorus reserves will still last for several hundred years. A more significant problem with phosphorus is the political instability in the main countries of origin. These tensions with producer countries repeatedly lead to price spikes and supply shortages.
According to a recent study, around 25 percent of European phosphate fertilizer exports still currently come from Russia. Another substantial portion of imports originates from Morocco. Due in part to this dependency, the EU has classified phosphorus as a critical raw material since 2014.
Another problem with naturally sourced phosphorus is that the primary deposits, as experts call the mining areas, have “a strong similarity to uranium deposits,” emphasizes Roland Pomberger, head of the Chair of Waste Processing Technology and Waste Management at the Montanuniversität Leoben in Austria, in an interview with BR. Therefore, “we also have a, albeit very small, radioactive component in there, and we then spread that on our fields.”
According to the German Environment Agency, about 167 tons of uranium are consequently deposited on German fields each year. In Bavaria, farmland is contaminated with up to 3.1 milligrams of uranium per kilogram of soil.
With the reorganization of the Sewage Sludge Ordinance in 2017, the legislature created a tool to combat dependency on unstable states and potential health hazards from contaminated phosphorus.
Under this legal update, operators of sewage treatment and sewage sludge incineration plants in catchment areas with over 100,000 inhabitants must ensure the recovery of phosphorus from sewage sludge by 2029, and those with over 50,000 inhabitants by 2031, if the sludge contains more than two percent phosphorus. According to Christoph Brey, operations manager of the new plant, in an interview with BR, this is always the case anyway. Sewage sludge contains up to 20 percent phosphorus.
Therefore, the commissioning of the phosphorus recycling plant in Altenstadt is not only a step towards a more circular economy and reduced dependency on unreliable supplier countries. It is also a step towards fulfilling the soon-to-be-mandatory legal requirements as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Operations Manager Christoph Brey is particularly proud that he believes this will be successful. In this process, contaminants present in the sewage sludge, such as medication residues or heavy metals, are “removed” due to temperatures exceeding 900 degrees Celsius in the incineration plant. Brey emphasizes that the resulting fertilizer is so pure and safe that it is even suitable for organic farmers.
Another advantage of the process: 98 percent of the phosphorus contained in the sewage sludge can be preserved with this recycling method. According to Brey, the fertilizing effectiveness achieved through the applied process is also “close to one hundred percent.” “The situation is such that, compared to other phosphorus recycling methods, ours is the most efficient,” says Brey. Price-wise, the fertilizer produced at the plant is also competitive with all others—including those not made from recycled materials.
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