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Category: Aktuelles

Statement of German Phosphorus Platform on discovered phosphate deposits in Norway

Statement of German Phosphorus Platform on discovered phosphate deposits in Norway

Various media have recently reported the discovery of huge phosphate deposits in Norway. The DPP e.V. has issued a statement on this matter.

The 2022 annual report of Norge Mining Limited announced the finding of 70 billion tons of phosphate rock.

The topic was rapidly taken up by various media, partly with the tenor that the previous import dependency of European countries, including Germany, is over. The German Phosphorus Platform (DPP) e.V. issued a statement in July, which was also taken up and discussed by the press. You can read the DPP’s statement here.

Regardless of all developments and findings still to come, the BMBF funding measure RePhoR supports the setting of the course for a sustainable recycling of existing phosphorus resources. As can be seen from the statement of DPP e.V., it is so far unclear within which period of time the occurrences could be economically degradable. Either way, however, even the reserves found are finite. Therefore, the large-scale implementation of P-recycling technologies still represents a sensible way forward.

Phosphorus recycling product struvite in a long-term test in Nettlingen near Hildesheim

Phosphorus recycling product struvite in a long-term test in Nettlingen near Hildesheim

Besichtigung des Dauerversuchs auf einem Praxisbetrieb in Nettlingen bei Hildesheim. © Elke Bloem, JKI
Tour of the permanent test on a practical farm in Nettlingen near Hildesheim. © Elke Bloem, JKI
Besichtigung des Dauerversuchs auf einem Praxisbetrieb in Nettlingen bei Hildesheim. © Elke Bloem, JKI
Tour of the permanent test on a practical farm in Nettlingen near Hildesheim. © Elke Bloem, JKI
© SF-Soepenberg GmbH

The Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) is currently conducting field experiments with fertilisers made from the phosphorus recycling product struvite. JKI, a partner in the RePhoR collaborative project P-Net, recently invited visitors to view the permanent experiment on a practice farm in Nettlingen near Hildesheim – the magazine Beckmann Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (contractor) reported.

Overall, the long-term phosphorus (P) and magnesium fertilisation effect of struvite will be investigated over a period of nine years on the plots in Nettlingen. The aim is to enable the young plants to develop P through root activity. As the soil is already well supplied with P, only maintenance fertilisation will be applied. However, initial results show that struvite fertilisation enables the plant to extract phosphorus from the soil just as well as a water-soluble commercial fertiliser such as the widely used DAP.

The testing of the struvite fertiliser, which will be marketed under the brand name “Crystallo”, is part of the BMBF-funded research project “Establishment of a network for resource-efficient phosphorus recycling and management in the Harz and Heath region” (P-Net). The researchers are also investigating the market opportunities for struvite fertilisers. A key factor here is the packaging of the fertiliser in standardised quality. By setting up a struvite network, P-Net aims to contribute to the establishment of further developed, optimised and promising processes and measures for struvite upgrading at other locations on the national and international market.

Agrobusiness Niederrhein e. V. presents the RePhoR projects P-Net, SATELLITE and AMPHORE

Agrobusiness Niederrhein e.V. stellt die RePhoR-Projekte P-Net, SATELLITE und AMPHORE vor

© agrobusiness
© agrobusiness
© agrobusiness
© agrobusiness

In June, Agrobusiness Niederrhein e.V. hosted an event at the Emschergenossenschaft wastewater treatment plant in Dinslaken to present different ways of recycling nutrients from wastewater and to discuss the legal framework and challenges. Among the projects presented were the RePhoR joint projects P-Net, SATELLITE and AMPHORE.

At the beginning of the event, Dr. Dennis Blöhse of Emschergenossenschaft/Lippeverband (EGLV) started with a report on the wastewater industry’s perspective on nutrient recycling. The obligation to recover phosphorus, which will apply from 2029, will also affect EGLV’s plants. For this reason, EGLV is already working intensively with other water industry associations and subsidiaries, as well as with scientific institutions, on ways to implement the legal framework.

Dr. Blöhse presented, among other things, activities already completed in the European INTERREG NWE project “Phos4You” (2016-2021) as well as current activities in the project with the acronym “AMPHORE” (2020-2025), which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the funding line “Regional Phosphorus Recycling (RePhoR)”. As part of this project, a large-scale demonstration plant for phosphorus recycling will be built in Bottrop, Germany, by a newly founded company, PhosRec GmbH, and will be in operation from 2024.

SF-Soepenberg GmbH, an active project partner of P-Net and SATELLITE, has developed a proprietary process called iPhos, which extracts phosphate from water and reduces the phosphate content in the dry matter of sewage sludge to less than two percent. The first plant, which will be able to recover phosphate from the wastewater of around 5,000 inhabitants using this process, is due to go into operation this summer.

iPhos and other processes for p-recovery from wastewater produce the mineral struvite, which contains phosphorus, magnesium and nitrogen. Dr. Joachim Clemens of Soepenberg is convinced of the positive properties of struvite as a fertiliser, which is already available for agricultural use. struvite precipitates when magnesium compounds are added to wastewater. This keeps the pipes in sewage treatment plants free and at the same time produces a high-quality raw material for fertilisers.

TransPhoR contribution at the European Wastewater Management Conference in Manchester

TransPhoR contribution at the European Wastewater Management Conference in Manchester

Vortrag von Sophia Schüller (FiW e. V.) zum Thema Phosphor-Recycling im BMBF-Förderprojekt RePhoR. © FiW e. V.
Presentation by Sophia Schüller (FiW e. V.) on the topic of phosphorus recycling in the BMBF-funded project RePhoR. © FiW e. V.
Vortrag von Sophia Schüller (FiW e. V.) zum Thema Phosphor-Recycling im BMBF-Förderprojekt RePhoR. © FiW e. V.
Presentation by Sophia Schüller (FiW e. V.) on the topic of phosphorus recycling in the BMBF-funded project RePhoR. © FiW e. V.
Impressionen EWMC 2023 in Manchester. © FiW e. V
Impressions of EWMC 2023 in Manchester. © FiW e. V.
Impressionen EWMC 2023 in Manchester. © FiW e. V
Impressions of EWMC 2023 in Manchester. © FiW e. V.

The European Wastewater Management Conference is an annual event for the presentation of current developments in the wastewater sector and the exchange of experts and stakeholders. This year, more than 300 participants attended the conference. Sophia Schüller from the TransPhoR project had the opportunity to present the RePhoR funding project within the “Nutrient Removal & Recovery” session and discussed with the participants the experience needed, which other European countries also need to access. Previously, Chris Thornton of the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) had already given an overview of the EU’s regulatory instruments for nutrient recovery.

The conference was held in the light of the worsening climate crisis: in his key note presentation “This changes everything: the coming climate reckoning”, Professor Rupert Read urgently called on the water industry to take action. In the light of this, the following presentations once again made clear the connection between phosphorus and climate change: increasing heavy rainfall and storm events cause phosphorus to be flushed out of the soil, which on the one hand has a negative impact on the water quality of neighboring bodies of water, and on the other hand increases the need for phosphorus fertilizer. At the same time, the soil temperature increases in the long term and thus also the uptake capacity of the plants.

In view of the expert audience, the presentation focused on the organizational challenges of phosphorus recycling and the results to be expected from RePhoR, as well as the description of the accompanying and cross-project cross-cutting issues (more on the RePhoR homepage). Germany, as one of the countries in the EU that have introduced a P-recycling obligation, can also help to shape the technological paths of other EU countries through the experiences that are also generated within the RePhoR measure, if they are looking for best practice examples. The discussions that followed the presentation made it clear that there are many questions about the way forward and the urgency of the timeframe, and that the results are eagerly awaited.

RePhoR projects enter the next phase

RePhoR projects enter the next phase

View from the digestion tower of the wastewater treatment plant in Bottrop. It is the site for a phosphorus recovery plant. © Carsten Jobelius / PTKA

The seven joint projects are now entering the practical implementation with the start of the further funding phase at the beginning of July.

More at
https://www.fona.de/de/projekte-zum-phosphorrecycling-gehen-in-naechste-phase

Phosphorus recycling in innovation management – TransPhoR contribution at the ISPIM Innovation Conference in Ljubljana

Phosphorus recycling in innovation management – TransPhoR contribution at the ISPIM Innovation Conference in Ljubljana

Vortrag von Sophia Schüller (FiW e. V.) zum Thema Phosphor-Recycling im BMBF-Förderprojekt RePhoR. © FiW e. V.
Presentation by Sophia Schüller (FiW e. V.) on the topic of phosphorus recycling in the BMBF-funded project RePhoR. © FiW e. V.
Impressionen ISPIM 2023 in Ljubljana. © FiW e. V.
Impressions of ISPIM 2023 in Ljubljana. © FiW e. V.
Impressionen ISPIM 2023 in Ljubljana. © FiW e. V.

The scientific accompanying project presented the BMBF funding measure Regional Phosphorus Recycling (RePhoR) and discussed potential barriers to market entry of wastewater-derived phosphorus recyclates in the context of innovation management.

The ISPIM Innovation Conference is held annually in varying locations around the world and this year was the 34th time it was organized and held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in collaboration with regional stakeholders. The organizer is ISPIM (International Society for Professional Innovation Management), which is concerned with the generation of innovative products, processes and services and their market entry and networks members with each other.

With this year’s focus of the event on Circular Economy, phosphorus recycling fitted right in. Therefore, in the block “EU Projects” Sophia Schüller was able to present the funding measure Regional Phosphorus Recycling (RePhoR) on June 7th and discuss challenges for market entry, e. g. legal issues. The session was moderated by Katrin Reschwamm (EUrelations AG).

The conference offered an exciting insight into innovation management and new impulses for the project, which are now being processed in the follow-up.

BMBF-funded measure RePhoR successfully draws up mid-term balance at status seminar in Frankfurt a. M.

BMBF-funded measure RePhoR successfully draws up mid-term balance at status seminar in Frankfurt a. M.

Keynote von Dr.-Ing. Luis Tercero Espinoza, Leiter des Geschäftsfeldes Rohstoffe am Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI). © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Keynote by Dr.-Ing. Luis Tercero Espinoza, Head of the Raw Materials Business Unit at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressionen des Statusseminars. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressions of the status seminar. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Teilnehmende der Podiumsdiskussion: Dr. Marina Ettl, Dr. Stephanie Fischinger, Prof. Dr. Karl-Georg Schmelz, Herr Hans-Walter Schneichel, Prof. Dr.-Ing Johannes Pinnekamp, moderiert von Simone Apitz (v.l.n.r.). © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Participants in the panel discussion: Dr. Marina Ettl, Dr. Stephanie Fischinger, Prof. Dr. Karl-Georg Schmelz, Mr. Hans-Walter Schneichel, Prof. Dr.-Ing Johannes Pinnekamp, moderated by Simone Apitz (l.t.r.). © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressionen des Statusseminars: Podiumsdiskussion. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressions of the status seminar: Panel discussion. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressionen des Statusseminars: Podiumsdiskussion. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressions of the status seminar: Panel discussion. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressionen des Statusseminars: Posterausstellung. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressions of the status seminar: Poster exhibition. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressionen des Statusseminars: Posterausstellung. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR
Impressions of the status seminar: Poster exhibition. © SKYKAMERA/Det/TransPhoR

On May 3 and 4, 2023, the seven BMBF-funded collaborative projects as well as the cross-cutting topics presented their respective status of work and interim results. The status seminar was organized and hosted by the scientific accompanying and transfer project TransPhoR. It marked the mid-term of the funding period and welcomed around 140 participants to the DECHEMA building in Frankfurt am Main.

The conference was opened by Dr.-Ing. Luis Tercero Espinoza, who introduced the criticality of phosphorus with a keynote speech on current developments in the raw materials market. In presentations by the project coordinators and those responsible for the overarching cross-cutting issues, as well as in the form of a poster exhibition, it was possible to present and discuss the work carried out to date by the funding measure. In a panel discussion, the question of the status and developments of phosphorus recycling in view of the legal requirements until 2029 was discussed. The first day was open to the professional public and offered not only funding recipients but also operators and participants from business, politics, administration and other interested parties the opportunity to learn more about the current state of phosphorus recycling.

On the second day, an internal RePhoR workshop took place in the form of a World Café, in which questions concerning products & markets, legal aspects, risk management and sustainability analysis were discussed in several rounds on a total of four topic tables. All presentations as well as the conference proceedings will be made available on the event page soon. We would like to thank all speakers, exhibitors and participants for the insights into their work and the constructive exchange.

All presentations as well as the conference proceedings will be made available on the RePhoR homepage in due course. We would like to thank all speakers, exhibitors and participants for the insights into their work and the constructive exchange.

Homepage of PhosRec GmbH in the AMPHORE project online 

Homepage der PhosRec GmbH im AMPHORE-Projekt online

PhosRec Phosphor-Recycling GmbH was founded in March 2020 by five public water boards from North Rhine-Westphalia for the purpose of jointly implementing the future mandatory phosphorus recovery.

Within the framework of the AMPHORE project, the shareholders want to assume joint responsibility via the GmbH for the planning, approval, construction and demonstration operation of a large-scale plant with the aim of phosphorus recycling from sewage sludge ash. The participating shareholders are Emschergenossenschaft, Ruhrverband, Wupperverband and Linksniederrheinische Entwässerungs-Genossenschaft (LINEG).

Now the homepage has been launched, which will provide regular information on the progress of construction and later on the operation of the demonstration plant of the AMPHORE project.

The site is available at https://phosrec.de/.

Social Hotspot Analysis on Primary P at S-LCA Conference

Social Hotspot Analysis on Primary P at S-LCA Conference

The International Conference on “Social Life Cycle Assssment” is the leading event on current methodological developments and best practices in the field of social sustainability assessment. In 2022, the 8th conference took place from September 5-8 in Aachen, Germany. Within a presentation block on “Interlinkages between S-LCA and Conflict Minerals or Critical Raw Materials Assessment”, a presentation on a social hotspot analysis on primary phosphorus was given by Dr.-Ing. Roland Meyer (INaB – Institute for Sustainability in Civil Engineering of RWTH Aachen University) of the transfer project TransPhoR. The findings from this lecture were developed in a master thesis and will also be used for the cross-sectional topic 2 “Sustainability Assessment” within the project RePhoR. The great interest in the lecture proves the importance of a holistic sustainability assessment. A publication on the topic is planned.

RePhoR will be represented at ESPC4

RePhoR will be represented at ESPC4

The 4th European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference (ESPC4) will take place between 20.06. – 22.06.2022 in Vienna. The BMBF-funded measure “Regional Phosphorus Recycling” (RePhoR) will be represented by FiW e.V. at RWTH Aachen University in a presentation of the joint and transfer project TransPhoR. On June 21, 2022 from 11:15 am – 12:45 pm, three parallel sessions will be offered with the topics “Emerging nutrient recovery technologies”, “Policies and regions for phosphorus sustainability” and “New fertilisers for nutrient sustainability”. The presentation on the funding measure RePhoR will be given by Sophia Schüller in the session ” Policies and regions for phosphorus sustainability”. The joint project DreiSATS will also be represented by Fraunhofer IKTS in the session “P-Recovery from Ash”.