Production of safe, sustainable, and efficient bio-based fertilisers to improve soil health and quality

Fertilisers are critical for the EU agriculture and the current market situation for fossil and mineral fertilisers, together with a general increase of input costs, could have significant impacts on EU farmers and their productivity.

Bio-based fertilisers have the potential to make the food system more sustainable in line with the Farm to Fork objectives and targets but also support the availability and affordability of fertilisers by providing bio-based alternatives to farmers with similar or even improved properties. The recycling of nutrients from nutrient-rich waste and side-streams (such as agricultural by-products and waste, food waste or sewage sludge) also offer great opportunities to diversify and enhance rural incomes.

However, these alternatives need to comply with the requirements laid down in the EU Fertiliser Product Regulation, including the provisions to restrict intentionally added microplastics from 2026 onwards. Polymeric materials and plastic coatings, used to optimise the release properties of fertilisers, remain a significant problem in terms of environmental pollution and risks to human health.

Proposals under this topic should:

• Demonstrate the technical validation and implementation of bio-based fertiliser production from nutrient-rich waste and side streams (such as agricultural/forest/aquatic residues and wastes, municipal waste, food waste, sludge, etc.), thereby reducing the environmental impact linked to the dispersion of nutrients.
• Develop and validate novel bio-based fertilisers, including biodegradable fertiliser coatings or other delivery system (if applicable), ensuring their agronomic efficiency, safety and sustainability with similar or improved properties compared to synthetic and mineral fertilisers.
• Contribute to the substitution of conventional, non-renewable fertilisers, thereby reducing the dependency and risks related to depletion, market volatility as well as import dependency.
• Address the product marketability and compliance with EU Regulation 2019/1009 to the largest possible extent.
• Optimise the costs of the value chain (including logistics) and circular approaches of waste and side streams and increase resource efficiency of the fertiliser production.
• Engage with primary producers and test the developed products on demo farms, including the machinery for application, and monitor the effects on soil health and quality. If applicable, connect and cooperate with existing living labs in the framework of the EU mission ‘A soil deal for Europe’.
• Include a task to closely cooperate with projects funded under Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe (including the R&I partnership ‘Accelerating farming systems transition: agroecology living labs and research infrastructures’) and the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’.

Proposals are recommended to include a task to perform an assessment based on the safe-and- sustainable-by-design (SSbD) framework, developed by the European Commission, for assessing the safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials[[See documents defining the framework and criteria on: https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/key-enabling-technologies/advanced-materials-and-chemicals_en.]]. Under this context, proposals are recommended to also include a task to contribute with and develop recommendations that can advance further the application of the SSbD framework[[More specifically, provide thresholds that can support the criteria definition and improvements for the assessment SSbD methodologies, including any specificities related with bio-based surfactants. Recommendations should also include identification of data gaps, especially safety, environmental, but also socio-economic factors, as well as priorities for data collection.]].

Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach and demonstrate the involvement of all concerned key actors, such as primary producers, in the bio-based systems.

Proposals should also describe their contribution to the Specific CBE JU requirements, presented in section 2.2.3.1 and the Cross-cutting elements, highlighted in section 2.2.3.2 of the CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2023[[CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2023 (https://www.cbe.europa.eu/reference-documents)]].

Proposals should build on and avoid replication of results of previous and ongoing projects such as from BBI JU portfolio[[E.g. NewFert, SUSFERT, B-FERST, which are BBI projects.]], and from Horizon 2020[[E.g. projects funded under the call CE-RUR-08-2018-2019-2020 - Closing nutrient cycles.]], and Horizon Europe portfolio[[E.g. Fert-PLAY and NOVAFERT, from the topic HORIZON-CL6-2021-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-09: Environmental impacts and trade-offs of alternative fertilising products at global/local scale. Other relevant topics in Horizon Europe are HORIZON-CL6-2021-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-01: Regional nitrogen and phosphorus load reduction approach within safe ecological boundaries;HORIZON-CL6-2021-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-02: Optimisation of nutrient budget in agriculture; HORIZON-CL6-2022-ZEROPOLLUTION-01-02: Piloting innovative governance solutions to limit nitrogen and phosphorus emissions at the interface of rural/coastal and urban/industrial environments; HORIZON-CL6-2023-GOVERNANCE: Developing EU advisory networks on the use of fertilisers; HORIZON-CL6-2023-ZEROPOLLUTION: Best available techniques for recovering or recycling fertilising products from secondary raw materials; HORIZON-CL6-2024-FARM2FORK: Increasing the availability and use of harmless inputs in organic farming]].