Nordic collaboration for sustainable agriculture
In a Nordic collaboration, phosphorus will be recovered from waste from Danish poultry farming and Norwegian fish farming. The project will jointly solve several challenges facing the Nordic countries.
28 Mar 2022The nutrient phosphorus is crucial for agriculture, but Europe is dependent on imported phosphorus from mining in other parts of the world. At the same time, Denmark and Norway have large surpluses of phosphorus, as animal husbandry in Denmark and fish farming in Norway import large amounts of phosphorus-based feed.
– We must find circular, sustainable ways to supply agriculture with phosphorus. Therefore, we are pleased that Sweden, Norway, and Denmark see the environmental and climate benefits that our technology can contribute with, says Anders Kihl, Head of Research and Development at Ragn-Sells.
Norway's fish farming alone causes about 9,000 tonnes of phosphorus emissions into the sea each year, according to the European Environmental Agency. This corresponds to a quarter of the phosphorus contents of Denmark's animal feed imports. Hence, being able to recover the phosphorus and using it again means great potential for a more sustainable industry.
– A sustainable society requires that we start reusing materials that we already have, particularly finite ones like phosphorus, says Anders Kihl.
