An online demonstration event on the INTERREG V B NWE ReNu2Farm project was held on the 1st of July 2021. The goal of the project was to improve recycling-derived fertilisers to meet agronomic needs, that farmers use more recycling-derived fertilisers instead of mineral fertilisers and to increase in trade and transport of recycled nutrients.
The purpose of the demonstration workshop was to train stakeholders from agriculture, biogas industry, fertilizer production and distribution on the current state of recycling derived fertilizers production, use and acceptance. Main focus are the nutrients phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium as they are of enormous importance for fertile soils.
After a short welcome speech by the technical engineer of "Soil-Concept S.A.", Alex Kolomijtschuk, the project lead Ms. Katja Weiler from IZES gave an overview of the RDFs examined in the project and their legal framework for use and marketing in North-West Europe. The results of the farmers survey of the project were additionally presented to provide insights into the demand and acceptance of RDF with a focus on Germany and Luxembourg (survey of over 1,200 farmers in North-West Europe). An interactive Mentimeter Questionnaire was facilitated by Ms. Anna Bur from IZES with the audience of the demonstration workshop to request their current state of knowledge and experiences with RDFs, that has provided similar results than the conducted survey in the project. Afterwards, Alex Kolomijtschuk presented the Soil-Concept S.A. experiences with RDF production from a manufacturer's point of view (ash/ green waste/ sewage sludge compost containing phosphorus; Nitrogen and potassium from digestate). Here, also insights into nutrient composition, optimized fertilizer management and the CO2 balance of the RDF were presented. Finally the new Soil Concept project short video on their RDF production process has been released at this event.
During the interactive workshop, a broad range of administrative entities from Germany were participating. As one example, the German Chamber of Agriculture of Lower Saxony expressed their research activities on this field. They expressed their interest in substituting mineral P fertilisers for their fields with Soil Concept S.A.'s ashes and the recycled nutrient phosphorus.