Bio-based fertilizers: A practical approach towards circular economy

Although for the past 100 years, fertilizer technologies have increasingly used renewable resources, the majority of manufactured products are still based on mineral deposits and fossil fuels. The European Commission has set a goal of 30% reduction of non-renewable resources in fertilizer production. This can only be accomplished if there are incentives for wastes valorization and fines for making use of non-renewable raw materials. This will enable the reduction of eutrophication of surface waters due to the presence of nitrogen and phosphorus, originating from agricultural fields fertilizers. The use of biological waste is a practical solution to recover valuable fertilizer components. In order to effectively implement technologies based on biological resources, it is necessary to construct small wastes solubilization or fertilizer installations at the site of waste generation, which will solve the problem of waste transport or sanitary hazards.