How to Make Finlanda Benchmark Country

for Circular Nutrient Economy?

Lassi Linnanen11.05.2015nutrient.fi

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Biomeri Oy

Partners

Transition towards sustainable nutrient management in Finland 2012-2015

Our Approach: Combination of Two Streams of Thought

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Resilience:Planetary boundaries

Transition management:ForecastingBackcasting

NUTS

‒ 80 % of mined phosphorus never reaches consumers

‒ Average nitrogen use efficiency in Europe less than 15 %

‒ Maximization of yields per hectare despite dependence on external resources

‒ Ratio of re-use/losses at a city scale, pre-industrial vs. 2000

‒ P from 8:1 to 1:1

‒ N from 3:1 to 1:3

‒ European food waste 720 kcal/cap/day

‒ Consuming 25 % of fertilizers, 31 % of water, and 26 % of cropland

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State-of Art 1: Low Efficiency

State-of Art 2: Degrading Resilience

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‒ P runoff into the sea 10-fold in comparison to natural runoff

‒ Areas with dead zones e.g. Yellow Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Baltic Sea, the Great Barrier Reef

‒ Reactive nitrogen leaks from the food system - a highly effective greenhouse gas in the atmosphere -> connectedness

‒ Intentional and unintentional hindering of alternatives

‒ E.g. agro-food research and innovation favoring bio-genetic innovation over agro-ecological

State-of Art 3: Growing Inequality

‒ 10 % of world´s cropland receives 32 % of N surplus and 40 % of P surplus

‒ In rich economies artificial fertilizers too cheap, in poor economies too expensive

‒ Concentration of bargaining power to the food industry and retailing

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SYSTEM BOTTLENECKS

Price of natural capital

Cheap mineral fertilizers& fossil fuels

Recycling technology expensive

Inefficient utilization of

manure

Partial short-term productivity

Large and specialized production

units

Disintegration of animal and

plant production

Regional problem

accumulation

Growth of investment

size

Dependence on external financing

Increase of land renting

Reduced input portfolio

Dependence on external

inputs

Import of surplus

nutrients

Demand

Lack of awareness

and interest

Lack of transparency

Retail sector as gatekeeper

Fragmentation of policy goals and

instruments

Sustaining livelihood

Reinforcing partial

optimization

Preserving old habits and structures

Protecting environment

Increasing bureaucracy

Managing measures not

results

Energy policy

Favoring big units over small ones

Unfeasibility of small-scale

biogas production

How to Escape Lock-in?(and make Finland a benchmark country for circular nutrient economy?)

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1. Get prices right: improved conditions for recycling organic by-products

2. Redefine agricultural productivity: it is not about closing the yield gap

3. Create demand: consumers and retail have pivotal responsibility

4. Enable food policy: coherence and flexibility instead of rigid silos