Fertilisers regained from agri- and horticultural residuals

Description

The agricultural and horticultural sector produce a lot of organic waste every year. The green waste, such as stems, leaves and rejected fruits from plants, is composted in a low-quality recycling process that releases a lot of CO2. Composting also releases a mineral residual stream (the juices that come out) that often ends up in the sewer system.

At the same time, there is increasing demand for organically grown food. This requires organic fertilisers in organic agriculture and horticulture. For example, organic nitrate is needed to make a plant grow faster.

Other substances are also important for good plant growth. Potassium promotes the absorption of water and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis by causing the stomata in the leaves to open or close. Phosphate has a stimulating role in root growth and youth growth.

In the Netherlands, only 4.4% of the total agricultural and horticultural area is used for organic cultivation. Despite the fact that there is a lot of interest, many growers do not dare to make the switch to organic because of the insufficient availability of an organic growth accelerator and other organic fertilisers.

That is why this consortium of agricultural and horticultural companies, led by Biota Nutri, has tested a solution with which agriculture and horticulture can become completely circular. The consortium is developing a prototype of a bio-installation for 3 important biological fertilisers in liquid form: potassium, nitrogen and phosphate.
After supplying the residual flows from growers, the plant juices are pressed and processed into organic fertilisers. This process is patented. Moreover, press cake is created when squeezing plant juices from the waste streams. In order to achieve a fully circular solution, the consortium has researched the properties of the press cake from the residual flows, as well as which applications the fibers are suitable for.

These partners works together in this project:

Biota Nutrients, project lead and supplier of organic fertilisers 

Tesselaar Alstroemeria, grower

Maatschap C.A. & N. Van der Sterre, Bleiswijk, organic grower of unions, Brussels Sprouts and beans

Firma T.P.M. Van der Meer, Oud-Ade, grower of perennials

Stichting SIGN, processing of the press cake 

Biotech Microbials, research