Phosphorus Recovery Before 2029: RePhoR Status Report Provides Practice-Oriented Insights
The status report of the BMFTR-funded initiative “Regional Phosphorus Recycling – RePhoR” has been published. Coordinated by FiW within the accompanying project TransPhoR, the report compiles the findings from seven collaborative projects on phosphorus recovery and highlights practical challenges, solution approaches, and opportunities. The publication comes at a critical time: four years before the legal obligation for phosphorus recovery comes into effect, concrete implementation plans are still lacking in many places.
Phosphorus is an essential and irreplaceable element in all living organisms and is primarily used as fertilizer for high-yield agriculture. Since the EU has no domestic phosphate rock deposits, it is entirely dependent on imports, which poses significant risks to supply security. Recovering phosphorus from phosphorus-rich waste streams such as wastewater and sewage sludge plays a key role in securing future supply.
Since 2020, seven collaborative projects have been working on phosphorus recovery concepts within the BMFTR-funded RePhoR initiative, implementing them at a large technical scale. In addition to technical aspects, the projects also address legal and organizational challenges—such as inter-municipal cooperation, partnerships with private sector actors, logistics, certification requirements, and the quality and marketability of the recovered products. Most of the projects have now built their facilities and gained initial operational experience. These practical insights are essential to support future investment decisions based on well-founded knowledge.
The current RePhoR status report provides a comprehensive overview of how large-scale recovery processes can be implemented technically, economically, and organizationally—from planning to market integration. It also discusses legal and permitting barriers as well as issues of social and agricultural acceptance. The report is available for download at the following link: https://www.bmbf-rephor.de/download-statusbericht-2025/
We welcome your feedback, which can be submitted via a form available with the download.
The report was presented at this year’s 14th DWA Sewage Sludge Days in Würzburg at the joint exhibition booth of the collaborative projects, offering numerous professionals the opportunity to exchange insights on the current state of research.