Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NENUPHAR (New governance models to enhance nutrient pollution handling and nutrients recycling)
Période du rapport: 2023-11-01 au 2025-07-31
NENUPHAR tackles one of Europe’s most persistent environmental and economic challenges: excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus from agriculture and wastewater. These nutrients degrade soils, waters and air, while valuable nutrients in manure, sewage sludge and dairy effluents remain underused. The project aims to turn these waste streams into safe, locally reusable resources and reduce diffuse pollution at basin scale. The main objective is to prove, in real settings, that integrated solutions combining governance reform, policy instruments and mature technologies can both prevent N/P emissions and recover nutrients for farming. NENUPHAR works through multi-actor regional clusters that map nutrient flows, co-design governance arrangements and test enabling technologies. These technologies include ammonia stripping for manure, safe composting routes for sludge, membrane and pre-oxidation treatments, and nature-based system with ultrasounds operations for water dairy. It provides authorities, utilities and farmers gain trusted performance, cost and safety evidence. This approach is anchored in three lighthouse river basins with distinct pressures and governance contexts: the Ebro (intensive livestock and irrigation dynamics), the Lielupe (diffuse agricultural loads in a lowland catchment) and the Danube (large transboundary system with mixed urban–rural sources), which together offer robust, transferable lessons. Two replication sites: Bornholm and Cyprus, extend the use cases to island settings characterised by seasonal demand peaks, water scarcity, limited land for manure/sludge handling and high fertiliser import dependence, demonstrating how solutions can be adapted where infrastructure and logistics constraints are more severe. The project combines life-cycle and techno-economic assessments with business models and replication roadmaps. Social sciences are embedded throughout, including stakeholder and network analysis, behavioural insights, and co-created incentives and regulatory pathways. NENUPHAR’s route to impact is clear: measurable reductions in nutrient losses and air emissions, increased regional nutrient autonomy, new revenue streams for waste and wastewater managers, and more resilient farming systems that rely less on imported fertilisers. These outcomes support environmental quality and rural competitiveness across the EU.
Since the start of the project, an EU-wide overview of nutrient-rich waste streams and potential reuse areas was compiled and works are ongoing to integrate them into a draft GIS platform. The developed technologies were benchmarked against market solutions, evaluating performance, cost, and implementation potential, providing insights into their suitability for broader adoption. In parallel, growth chamber tests were established to define comparable procedures for tracking Nitrogen and Phosphorus behaviour from bio-based fertilisers in soils, with full validation planned for the next period.
In addition, during RP1, demonstration activities advanced in the Ebro, Danube and Lielupe basins, with the technical design completed for four nutrient-recovery technologies: ammonia stripping (Ebro), sewage-sludge composting (Lielupe), membrane separation with pre-oxidation (Danube–Hungary), and an algae/nature-based system combined with biochemical/physical steps and ultrasound (Danube–Slovakia). After finalising the designs, pilots were commissioned and initial operational testing prepared. Additional laboratory-scale validation was carried out to confirm feasibility ahead of pilot operation. These steps advanced progress to TRL 6, with full demonstration under operational conditions (TRL 7/8) planned in RP2 using a common monitoring framework. Based on design data, the selected technologies are expected to reach project nutrient-recovery KPIs (273 t N and 72 t P). Early lab tests already show recovery rates in line with these targets: ammonia stripping close to the nitrogen goal, sludge composting reaching 60–75% phosphorus recovery, and membrane separation showing >90% N and ~99% P retention, matching lab results.
In addition, during RP1, demonstration activities advanced in the Ebro, Danube and Lielupe basins, with the technical design completed for four nutrient-recovery technologies: ammonia stripping (Ebro), sewage-sludge composting (Lielupe), membrane separation with pre-oxidation (Danube–Hungary), and an algae/nature-based system combined with biochemical/physical steps and ultrasound (Danube–Slovakia). After finalising the designs, pilots were commissioned and initial operational testing prepared. Additional laboratory-scale validation was carried out to confirm feasibility ahead of pilot operation. These steps advanced progress to TRL 6, with full demonstration under operational conditions (TRL 7/8) planned in RP2 using a common monitoring framework. Based on design data, the selected technologies are expected to reach project nutrient-recovery KPIs (273 t N and 72 t P). Early lab tests already show recovery rates in line with these targets: ammonia stripping close to the nitrogen goal, sludge composting reaching 60–75% phosphorus recovery, and membrane separation showing >90% N and ~99% P retention, matching lab results.
NENUPHAR is moving nutrient-recovery technologies beyond the lab and into real operational contexts. Pilots for ammonia stripping, sludge composting, and two dairy wastewater solutions are now installed and running in three major river basins, showing early performance matching best lab results (e.g. >90% N and ~99% P retention). Alongside, regional governance initiatives are being tested, engaging stakeholders to align roles, identify barriers, and support future product acceptance and market access.
The next key step is to complete full-scale demonstration under real conditions to generate robust evidence on technical and economic performance, validate KPIs, and provide a clear business case for broader adoption. Achieving commercialisation will also require harmonised, supportive regulatory frameworks at both EU and national levels. Current fragmentation in legislation for nutrient recovery and bio-based fertilisers creates barriers for uptake; clearer, consistent criteria are needed to build confidence for producers and users. Transparent monitoring and comparable data on performance, safety, and sustainability will help secure trust among farmers, regulators, and investors. Ongoing collaboration with regional stakeholders is focused on enabling incentives, certification, and procurement schemes to pave the way for scaling up NENUPHAR solutions and accelerating the transition to circular nutrient management.
The next key step is to complete full-scale demonstration under real conditions to generate robust evidence on technical and economic performance, validate KPIs, and provide a clear business case for broader adoption. Achieving commercialisation will also require harmonised, supportive regulatory frameworks at both EU and national levels. Current fragmentation in legislation for nutrient recovery and bio-based fertilisers creates barriers for uptake; clearer, consistent criteria are needed to build confidence for producers and users. Transparent monitoring and comparable data on performance, safety, and sustainability will help secure trust among farmers, regulators, and investors. Ongoing collaboration with regional stakeholders is focused on enabling incentives, certification, and procurement schemes to pave the way for scaling up NENUPHAR solutions and accelerating the transition to circular nutrient management.