Cross-fertilisation of ideas for a more sustainable fertiliser market: The need to incubate business concepts for harnessing organic residues and fertilisers on biotechnological conversion platforms in a circular bioeconomy

摘要

Nowadays, a common concern in livestock-producing regions is the net nutrients surplus generated in these regions through the import of nitrogen-rich fodder proteins and a subsequent high generation of nitrogen-rich manure after this fodder is used in their livestock farming systems. Such imbalance is threatening the local environments, where of particular concern are the environmental burdens on water ecosystems; furthermore, such inefficient use of resources has also a significant impact on the ecological footprints of the upstream chains that use the produced biomasses. In this regard, even though all attempts of directing nutrient flows incorporated in human and animal faeces back into regional nutrient cycles of agricultural production systems seem reasonable, the practical successes are cumbersome and hindered by industrial pollutants and imbalances in matching demands and supply for these nutrients. In effect, the experiences from farmers, waste water treatment operators and waste management companies show that finding alternative and useful sinks for organic residues is paramount.