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.
