RENU2FARM publishes two reports on the production of RDFs

REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF NUTRIENT RECOVERY FROM MANURE/DIGESTATE

ReNu2Farm focusses on nutrient recycling and fertiliser production from different waste streams (animal manure, sewage sludge and food waste), and one of the tasks that the project oversees is the provision of an overview of production of RDFs and implementation of the market available nutrient recovery technologies (NRTs). This overview was presented, giving due focus on the constraints and bottlenecks observed by six companies, when trying to implement market available NRTs. The manure processing companies reported in this overview are : three Flemish companies – Detricon, AM-Power, Arbio, and three Dutch companies – Attero, BMC Moerdijk, Groot Zevert Vergisting. Only companies in Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands were chosen to be interviewed for this report as these two regions are known for the nutrient surplus, and hence relatively faster market uptake of NRTs as compared to other NWE countries.

Interviews of all companies made one common statement : bottlenecks in implementation of NRTs are inevitable, and the fact that a particular technology is proven is not an assurance of the absence of ‘technology implementation issues’. It was understood from these interviews that most NRTs are tailor-made depending on the existing challenges that a company faces, such as high N-content of feedstock, low N-content of by-product, high moisture content, etc. Another crucial factor that influences companies in this sector is the availability of capital to invest in these technologies, since a lot of testing and fine-tuning of the technology is required that involves resources like expensive chemicals, energy as well as time. At the end, the obtained RDFs also face legal restrictions on the amount that can be applied on arable land.

Finally, it was also seen that there is a lot of scepticism in the minds of the general public regarding certain NRTs like incineration. Investment in proper communication and awareness needs to be done to bring a change in the current critical attitude of the general public.

Read the entire report here

REPORT ON THE BOOK OF SUCCESS STORIES

ReNu2Farm focusses on nutrient recycling and fertiliser production from different waste streams (animal manure, sewage sludge and food waste, and its priority specific objective is to optimise the reuse of material and natural resources in NWE. One of the tasks overseen by the project is to provide testimonials of practical experiences by successful businesses actively adopting nutrient recovery technologies (NRTs). The 10 companies from NWE interviewed in the context of this report were : Green Generation, Enrich Environment (Ireland), Group op de Beeck, Vermeulen Construct (Belgium), GMB and Eraspo (the Netherlands), Violleau, SEDE Environnment, Germiflor (France) and Ökobit and Berliner Wasserbetriebe & CNP CYCLES (Germany). The companies have shared their stories by briefly describing their history / background, current business activities, challenges faced and solutions to overcome the existing hindrances. As a parting note, each company has provided an advice that can be considered as a take-away message by potential businesses in this sector.

Different NRTs are already established in the market and have been undertaken extensively by companies, but it needs to be emphasised that albeit being proven NRTs, each of them possess their own implementation / operational issues that need to be tackled in a customised manner. Moreover, the RDFs obtained as a result of these NRTs still need to gain end-user acceptance. In the book of success stories, companies have described how they deal with these barriers and what can be done to improve the current scenario.

The story of each company not only indicates the trials encountered by businesses in the NRT sector, but also exhibits how consistent research in this field along with a determined attitude of sustainability of the owners has made these companies a success story in their respective countries.

Read the entire report here