Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FER-PLAY (Multi-assessment of alternative fertilisers for promoting local sustainable value chains and clean ecosystems)
Período documentado: 2024-03-01 hasta 2025-02-28
Fertilisation is key in keeping agriculture production but is associated to the intensive use of conventional fertilisers, which are a source of environmental pollution and rely on finite imported resources and energy intensive processes. The use of circular fertilisers (CF) from the recycling of biowaste, byproducts and wastewater represents an attractive solution in terms of costs, environmental impact, and the recirculation of materials that are scarce in the EU. However, the widespread uptake of CF is hindered by the 1) lack of awareness among end-users and producers on the positive effects; 2) negative concerns about the presence of toxic compounds and technical/economic feasibility; 3) uncertainty associated to the regulatory framework; 4) maturity of recovery technologies and unattractive business models.
In this context, FER-PLAY contributed to increase resilience and self-sufficiency, minimise pollution and enhance soil health through 1) mapping and selecting the most promising CF following a multi-assessment approach, 2) assessing them through Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and 3) gathering information through co-creation and increased awareness among various stakeholder groups.
In this context, FER-PLAY contributed to increase resilience and self-sufficiency, minimise pollution and enhance soil health through 1) mapping and selecting the most promising CF following a multi-assessment approach, 2) assessing them through Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and 3) gathering information through co-creation and increased awareness among various stakeholder groups.
All the project achievements/resources/outcomes listed can be found in the FER-PLAY Zenodo Community: https://zenodo.org/communities/fer-play-eu(se abrirá en una nueva ventana). They are described as follows:
-Value chain mapping with the 57 most relevant published in the FER-PLAY database (D1.1).
-The 7 most relevant selected: struvite from urban and industrial wastewater, stabilised sludge, composted biowaste, feather meal, solid fraction of digestate and spent mushroom substrate. For the selection, an innovative two-step method (Paredes et al., 2025. Open Research Europe,ORE): 1) Funnelling GO/NO-GO selection which discarded 18 value chains; 2) Scoring method that led to the final selection.
-Life cycle inventories (21), one per chains selected representing 3 EU regions, were created to perform 21 environmental, cost and social LCA's. Results are included in D 2.2. (some published in 3 scientific articles) constituting the multi-assessment of impacts, trade-offs and framework conditions, also including the assessment of the i) technical aspects and conditions for industrialisation, ii) regulatory framework, and iii) social acceptance of 454 surveys from end-users, producers and public administration. In addition, D2.2 was translated into easily accessible information through the publication of a reduced C&D focused version including an extended executive summary with the main results and methodological considerations.
-Strong network activity with (over 80) fellow EU projects, and our sister project NOVAFERT. Main outcomes can be found in D 2.3.
-On co-creation, extensive information and feedback was gathered from key stakeholders in webinars, focus groups and seminars (D3.4) used for the preparation of guidelines and recommendations (D 3.1 3.2 and 3.3). This activity resulted in the creation of strong consulting focus groups of experts across different disciplines.
Out of the results the following key learnings can be extracted: 1) According to LCA results, and despite the methodology could not account for soil-related effects, most CF offer environmental benefits, particularly regarding acidification and eutrophication, and some contribute to reducing GHG emissions. Economically, challenges remain due to limited incentives, scale, and efficiency; 2) Clustering actions were strategic to reach wider audiences and fruitful, especially if structured in the DoA, and policy recommendations were the preferred conjoined D&C activities; 3) From the co-creation activities: the agriculture sector needs highly trained technical advisors to guide the transition to CF, there is a need for CF producers to improve the commercial strategies and build trust with end-users and the general society, and public authorities should develop a robust bioeconomy strategy, promote the production and use of relevant CF for the territory, partner with other EU regions, act on the quality of the feedstock.
Main conclusions of the project are: 7 representative CF value chains were selected through a proposed replicable method; CF proved to have significant advantages, despite still requiring improvements in efficiency, cost structure, and data stewardship; LCA methods need to improve; it is crucial to capitalize previous and the generated results. In a nutshell, and through the project activities, we have contributed to create the conditions to facilitate the uptake of CF, which need to be further enhanced by addressing the following identified key needs: upscale technologies, increase social acceptance, develop attractive business models, innovate to ensure a proper NPK balance, introduce financial mechanisms, improve feedstock pre-treatment and control pollution sources.
-Value chain mapping with the 57 most relevant published in the FER-PLAY database (D1.1).
-The 7 most relevant selected: struvite from urban and industrial wastewater, stabilised sludge, composted biowaste, feather meal, solid fraction of digestate and spent mushroom substrate. For the selection, an innovative two-step method (Paredes et al., 2025. Open Research Europe,ORE): 1) Funnelling GO/NO-GO selection which discarded 18 value chains; 2) Scoring method that led to the final selection.
-Life cycle inventories (21), one per chains selected representing 3 EU regions, were created to perform 21 environmental, cost and social LCA's. Results are included in D 2.2. (some published in 3 scientific articles) constituting the multi-assessment of impacts, trade-offs and framework conditions, also including the assessment of the i) technical aspects and conditions for industrialisation, ii) regulatory framework, and iii) social acceptance of 454 surveys from end-users, producers and public administration. In addition, D2.2 was translated into easily accessible information through the publication of a reduced C&D focused version including an extended executive summary with the main results and methodological considerations.
-Strong network activity with (over 80) fellow EU projects, and our sister project NOVAFERT. Main outcomes can be found in D 2.3.
-On co-creation, extensive information and feedback was gathered from key stakeholders in webinars, focus groups and seminars (D3.4) used for the preparation of guidelines and recommendations (D 3.1 3.2 and 3.3). This activity resulted in the creation of strong consulting focus groups of experts across different disciplines.
Out of the results the following key learnings can be extracted: 1) According to LCA results, and despite the methodology could not account for soil-related effects, most CF offer environmental benefits, particularly regarding acidification and eutrophication, and some contribute to reducing GHG emissions. Economically, challenges remain due to limited incentives, scale, and efficiency; 2) Clustering actions were strategic to reach wider audiences and fruitful, especially if structured in the DoA, and policy recommendations were the preferred conjoined D&C activities; 3) From the co-creation activities: the agriculture sector needs highly trained technical advisors to guide the transition to CF, there is a need for CF producers to improve the commercial strategies and build trust with end-users and the general society, and public authorities should develop a robust bioeconomy strategy, promote the production and use of relevant CF for the territory, partner with other EU regions, act on the quality of the feedstock.
Main conclusions of the project are: 7 representative CF value chains were selected through a proposed replicable method; CF proved to have significant advantages, despite still requiring improvements in efficiency, cost structure, and data stewardship; LCA methods need to improve; it is crucial to capitalize previous and the generated results. In a nutshell, and through the project activities, we have contributed to create the conditions to facilitate the uptake of CF, which need to be further enhanced by addressing the following identified key needs: upscale technologies, increase social acceptance, develop attractive business models, innovate to ensure a proper NPK balance, introduce financial mechanisms, improve feedstock pre-treatment and control pollution sources.
FER-PLAY represents a step forward in the state-of-the-art through:
-Increased KNOWLEDGE through the mapping and multi-assessment of CF value chains.
-Development of METHODOLOGIES for their selection and sustainability assessment.
-Identification of POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS (Next Section)
-UNDERSTANDING of the key challenges/drivers through co-creation/surveys.
-Provision of TAILORED RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES.
-Constitution of a legacy set of high-quality C&D MATERIALS.
Therefore, FER-PLAY contributes to the society/environment/economy in: 1) establishing a baseline and improving the existing data on 57 value chains, 2) helping to consolidate/create new CF business lines, and 3) articulating of favourable regulatory conditions using project evidences. Project continuation is ensured through initiatives involving FER-PLAY partners (e.g.FERTITEC and FERTICOVERY; D4.3).
-Increased KNOWLEDGE through the mapping and multi-assessment of CF value chains.
-Development of METHODOLOGIES for their selection and sustainability assessment.
-Identification of POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS (Next Section)
-UNDERSTANDING of the key challenges/drivers through co-creation/surveys.
-Provision of TAILORED RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDELINES.
-Constitution of a legacy set of high-quality C&D MATERIALS.
Therefore, FER-PLAY contributes to the society/environment/economy in: 1) establishing a baseline and improving the existing data on 57 value chains, 2) helping to consolidate/create new CF business lines, and 3) articulating of favourable regulatory conditions using project evidences. Project continuation is ensured through initiatives involving FER-PLAY partners (e.g.FERTITEC and FERTICOVERY; D4.3).