Why phosphorus is essential – and how we can recycle it
Phosphorus is vital for all life on Earth. It helps plants grow and makes food production possible. But Europe has little of its own, relying mostly on imports from outside the EU. The solution is to recycle the phosphorus we already have.
04 Mar 2026Every loaf of bread, every vegetable, and every meal starts with phosphorus. This nutrient is one of nature’s essentials – a building block for all living things. It helps plants grow, animals stay healthy, and people get the food we need every day.
Phosphorus occurs naturally in our soils, but when we harvest crops year after year, we also remove the phosphorus they contain. To grow new crops, farmers need to put it back – which is why phosphorus is used in fertilisers.
The problem is that Europe has almost no phosphorus of its own. Nearly all the phosphorus used across the EU comes from mines outside Europe, mainly in Russia and Morocco. This means that something as fundamental as our food production depends on imports of a raw material we cannot replace.
At Ragn-Sells, we believe there is a better way. Our innovation company EasyMining has developed Ash2Phos, a patented technology that can recover more than 90 percent of the phosphorus contained in sewage sludge ash. The recovered material is refined into RevoCaP, a high-purity recycled product that can be used to replace mined phosphorus, both in fertilisers and animal feed.
“Phosphorus is not just an agricultural input – it is a strategic resource,” says Pär Larshans, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Ragn-Sells Group. “By recovering phosphorus from the resources we already have, we can make Europe more self-sufficient and reduce dependence on imported materials.”
Two full-scale Ash2Phos plants are now being built – one in Helsingborg, Sweden, and one in Schkopau, Germany – proving that circular phosphorus recovery works on an industrial scale.
The European Commission has already approved recycled phosphorus for use in organic farming. The next step is to also allow its use in animal feed. Once that happens, Europe will be able to recycle this vital nutrient– and reducing import from countries like Russia and Marocco.
“By simply updating an outdated annex in the feed legislation, the EU could unlock a green billion-euro industry, close the phosphorus loop, and boost European competitiveness,” says Pär Larshans.
