Markku Järvenpää, Luke - Putting nutrient recycling into practice

© Luonnonvarakeskus © Luonnonvarakeskus

Recycle nutrients for clear waters

Markku Järvenpää

Director, Management and Production of Renewable Resources

Luke - Natural Resources Institute Finland

[email protected]

20.4.2016

PUTTING NUTRIENT

RECYCLING INTO PRACTICE

20.4.2016 1

© Natural Resources Institute Finland

Luke –

Natural Resources Institute Finland

We concentrate on renewable

natural resources RTDI:

Biomass-based products and energy

Food system and food security

Health and well-being

Sustainable natural resources economy

and policy

© Natural Resources Institute Finland

© Luonnonvarakeskus

Luke in brief

Combined resources 2015:

• Turnover 125 M€

• Personnel 1500

• Locations 35

• Headquarters in Helsinki

• Other head offices Joensuu,

Jokioinen and Oulu.

• We operate in various parts

of the country taking

advantage of cooperation

opportunities with

universities and other

research institutions.


Organic wastes and by-products in

the Finnish food chain

4 20.4.2016

Total 27 million t/a

Manure

Grass

Straw

Vegetable waste

Biowaste

Sewage sludge

Other food industryby-products

Fresh tons – watery!

Variable nutrient and energy

contents


Recyclable nutrient resources from different raw

materials in Finland Anon 2011. Suomesta ravinteiden kierrätyksen mallimaa

Raw materials P N

Manure 72 % 78 %

Biowaste and side products

from food and feed industry 14 % 14 %

Municipal biowaste 3 % 5 %

Municipal sludge 12 % 4 %

Total 100 % 100 %

Total, t/a 24 100 128 100

5 20.4.2016


Why is this a problem?

6 20.4.2016

Ylivainio et al. 2014 MTT Report 124, modified

• Example: manure

– Approx. 18 million m3 (2014;

Luke & SYKE)

– 74% from cattle, 15% from

pigs, 2% from poultry

– Regionally concentrated into

areas with high P values in

field soils


Recommendations of Baltic Manure project

7 20.4.2016

Manure Facts

In the Baltic Sea Region, there is approximately 187 million tons of cattle, pig and poultry manure

produced each year. Most of it can be found in Poland, Denmark and the northern German states with

coastline to the Baltic Sea. The Russian manure production is significant, but was not included in this

project.

The highest share of slurry, 80%, is in Denmark, while in Poland 90-95% of all manure is solid. Overall

nearly 50% of the manure in the BSR is solid.

Tybirk, K. and Luostarinen, S. (eds.)

2013. Sustainable manure

management in the Baltic Sea

Region. www.balticmanure.eu

http://www.balticmanure.eu/


The same problem in most parts of Europe

8 20.4.2016

• Recyclable nutrients concentrated into certain regions with

nutrient surplus

• Transportation to areas needing the nutrients too expensive

and/or the nutrient-rich waste and by-products in a form

which cannot be directly reused

• Need to refine the biomasses into new products which are

– Meeting the needs of the end-users

– Transportable

– Safe, high quality

– Easy to use

– Economically and environmentally sound


How to make nutrient recycling happen?

• Resource efficiency and minimisation of losses in all actions

along the production and refining chains

– Saving fossil resources

– Minimisation of emissions and losses

• Use for all wastes and by-products

– Refining into new products which make use of their energy

and nutrient content

– Creates new business

• Optimisation of the entire

production chains

9 20.4.2016

Photos: Sari Luostarinen / Luke


Solutions via small-scale and/or industrial

symbiosis

• New types of cooperation between different actors

• Someone’s waste is someone else’s resource

• Can be achieved in smaller and larger scale

• Creates new business opportunities

• Waste hierarchy to be taken into account

– Minimisation of wastes and by-products

– Utilisation of wastes and by-products as resouces /

materials

– Utilisation as energy

– Safe disposal

10 20.4.2016


Luke Vision: Sustainable material cycle in Food

System creates new business opportunities -

From the Food Chain into Biomass Cycles

AGRICULTURE

AND

SILVICULTURE

PRODUCTION FURTHER

PROCESSING

DISTRIBUTION

USE

DISPOSAL

UTILISATION RECYCLING

PROCESSING OF

SECONDARY FLOWS

TO SALES

TO OWN PROCESS

SECONDARY FRACTIONS,

WASTE FLOW INPUT-

PRODUCTION

11

RENEWABLE ENERGY

PLANT NUTRIENTS

GREEN CHEMICALS

Energy and material cycles in agri-food sector as

enablers of business and green economy


Example: biogas technology

• Biogas technology enables recycling most of

organic wastes and by-products (excluding

wood materials)

• A closed, controlled technology to degrade the

biomasses into two products: 1) renewable

energy and 2) nutrient-rich digestate

• Biogas usable as heat, CHP, vehicle fuel (gas or

liquid)

• Digestate refinable into various nutrient and

other value-added products

– In large scale – processing and

productization needed!

12 20.4.2016

Photo: Sari Luostarinen / Luke

© Luonnonvarakeskus 19.4.2016 © Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuskeskus 13

Example: separation technology Fractions for Water, N and P (advantage: no odour)

Joint development Luke – Pellon company


Example of benefit from fractions – 10 000 pork

production unit manure logistics challenge

- Fractions enable rational use of nutrients -

14

Manure Volume

m3

N

kg

P

kg

Field

area

need, ha

Applicati

on,

m3/ha

Applicati

on

criterium

Raw

sludge

20 000 74 000 22 000 1467 14 P 15

kg/ha

Liquid

fraction

17 505 31 510 1 751 185 94 N 170

kg/ha

Solid

fraction

2494 21 450 19 705 182 14 P 36 +

tasaus


Development needs in nutrient recycling

• Techonologies are available: Different solutions available and under development – The entire management chains need to be optimised, incl.

• Processing – Logistics - Storage

• Feasibility of and instructions for end-product use

• Public-private RTD-cooperation

• Pioneer companies lack resources, know-how and even acceptability (regulatory framework – case food safety agency)

– Calls for smart business development

– Calls for capital

– Place for new innovative firms

• Productization: Acceptance of recycled nutrients (by farmers; by consumers) – Safety and sustainability (consumer and farmer)

– Economy and usability (farmer)

– Image and reputation

• Incentives needed: Market not yet there – Support investing

– Support use

– Release regulatory barriers

15 20.4.2016

© Luonnonvarakeskus 16 20.4.2016

Environment

Markku Järvenpää, Luke - Putting nutrient recycling into practice