Sanna Tikander
Senior Specialist
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland
Finland
sanna.tikander@gov.fi
Nutrients are wasted in different parts of the food system from primary production to households, industry and waste management. Nutrients ending up in water bodies cause eutrophication and ammonia emissions cause negative climate impacts. Above all, necessary and expensive inputs for food production are wasted.
At the Baltic Sea Action Summit in Helsinki in 2010, the Finnish Government committed to intensified efforts to achieve good status of the Archipelago Sea, and the goal was to make Finland an exemplary area for nutrient recycling. Since then, measures on nutrient recycling have been implemented in Finland on a long-term basis over government terms.
Nutrient recycling is at the heart of a sustainable food system. The circular economy potential is particularly high in the more efficient utilisation of different organic side streams as a raw material for renewable energy and fertilising products. For example, in the longer term, phosphorus from mineral fertilisers needed for current plant cultivation in Finland could be replaced almost entirely by phosphorus reserves from existing organic side streams.
In the administrative branch of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the aim is to promote the use of nutrients and energy contained in manure and other agricultural biomass from a business and environmental perspective. The national Nutrient Recycling Pilot Programme has supported the recovery and production processes of organic nutrients, product development, logistics and service solutions as well as expertise and cooperation. The programme's R&D aids and investment aids together promote a circular economy in the biogas, manure treatment, nutrient recycling and carbon sequestration sectors from ideas and product development to production scale activities.
A long-prepared nutrient cycle support system for biogas plants was launched at the beginning of 2024. Operational Grants for Nutrient Cycles is operating aid for biogas plants that produce biogas and highly refined nutrient products on the market from manure or aquatic plant management waste. The aim of the nutrient recycling support is to support nutrient recycling on a commercial scale and to promote nutrient transfer, especially in areas with phosphorus surpluses. An extension of the support system is currently being prepared to cover not only biogas plants but also other nutrient recycling plants.
Nutrient recycling is promoted not only through national measures but also through the EU's common agricultural policy. The Circular economy promotion measure included in the environmental compensation in the national CAP Plan supports, among other things, the deposit of sludge and the application of organic substances to fields. This will promote the use of recycled nutrients. Environmental investments promote the use of nutrients in manure and, for example, the construction of remote manure houses. Different project supports of the CAP Plan can also be used to finance various kinds of development and innovation projects. The advisory measures provide information and AgriHubi acts as a Farmer's competence network and data bank.
Efforts have also been made in the administrative branch of the Ministry of the Environment. The Programme to promote nutrient recycling and improve the state of the Archipelago Sea, so-called Raki programme, was launched in 2012. The programme finance investments and research, development and innovation projects to promote nutrient recycling and the improvement of waters and sea. The Ahti programme of the Ministry of the Environment will continue the work.
In addition to RDI and investment subsidies, the progress of nutrient recycling has been supported by drawing up a national indicator for nutrient recycling to show the recycling potential of different biomasses in Finland.
The feasibility and effectiveness of new policy instruments to promote the use of recycled nutrients are also examined. New policy methods could include, for example, distribution obligations, use share obligations, taxation methods, effectiveness-based subsidies, development of quality systems and more efficient introduction of existing quality systems, and new combinations of several policy instruments. The aim is to promote the demand for and supply of recycled nutrients and the emergence of market-based activities, and to produce new information on policy instruments for the preparation and implementation of EU and national legislation.
In a changing global operating environment, nutrient recycling is an increasingly important part not only of environmental objectives but also of ensuring self-sufficiency in food production. The effects of climate change on food production and crises weakening the structures of the global food system challenge us to strengthen the food system. In its vision for agriculture and food in spring 2025, the EU Commission identifies nutrient recycling as one of the solutions for improving the EU's competitiveness and resilience.
New innovations, investments and products in the nutrient recycling sector are constantly emerging, but more work is still needed to mainstream the nutrient circular economy. In particular, mass logistics, with different processing methods and digital solutions in addition to physical storage, transport and distribution, is not yet sufficiently developed. The production of research-based information, collection and analysis of data are also basic prerequisites for increasing resilience. Crisis resilience can also be improved through new kinds of financing arrangements that can be used to direct private funding more efficiently to the advancement of nutrient recycling.
The next step in nutrient recycling requires a more holistic approach. We need regional and supranational solutions and new value chain examples of the profitability of nutrient recycling. In this work, the cooperation networks of Baltic Sea countries are already important and will certainly be increasingly important in the future.