Circular Economy Action Plan

The European Union has recognized Circular Economy[i] as a key driver for the European industry and thus presented on 2 December 2015 a New Circular Economy Package that sets ambitious targets to be achieved by 2030.

The measures cover a broad range of issues in the whole industrial value chain from production to consumption, remanufacturing, waste management and secondary raw materials.

[i] Circular Economy is defined as an industrial model designed to be regenerative and restorative, aiming to extract the maximum value from resources by keeping them in circulation as long as possible and by recovering them at the end of their service life within a system.

Given its in-depth knowledge of industrial processes and nutrient management, the EU fertilizer industry has a key role in closing the nutrient loops and is in fact an indispensable actor of the Circular Economy.

The fertilizer Industry and Circular Economy

The fertilizer industry’s role in the circular economy is well established and it already recycles millions of tonnes of materials from other industries. The industry works to optimise resource use and recycles a wide range of by-products in its production process, turning them into valuable plant nutrients, and uses surplus energy and raw materials that derive from other production processes on fertilizer production sites or from production processes taking place elsewhere.

Some concrete examples of the place of the fertilizer industry in the circular economy are:

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It uses ammonium sulphate that is a by-product from nylon production in making sulphate-containing mineral fertilizers. Ammonium sulphate used by the EU fertilizer industry represents more than five million tonnes per year.

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It takes sulphur from oil and gas refining to make sulphuric acid (used in fertilizer production). More than five million tonnes of sulphur per year are used by the EU fertilizer industry.

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It applies used acids to dissolve rock phosphates in the production of phosphate fertilizers.

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It transfers residual heat and CO2 from ammonia operations within fertilizer manufacture to neighbouring glasshouses for use in horticulture, helping those growers and reducing industrial emissions at the same time.

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Part of the CO2 produced by the mineral fertilizer industry is purified and sold for use in food and beverages, such as sparkling water and in cleaning products.

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