LIFE

LIFE ENVIRONMENT |
LIFE and the circular economy
process in comparison with primary and/or secondary
copper production, and with state-of-the-art
copper recovery from WtE bottom-ash.
Recycled nutrients
A distinct category of secondary raw materials that
has been the focus of the LIFE programme is the
recycled nutrients present in organic waste material.
These can be returned to soil as fertiliser, reducing
the need for mineral-based fertilisers that
depend on imported phosphate rock, a limited resource.
However, it has been difficult to establish a
market for recycled nutrient-based fertilisers owing
to differing usage rules, environmental standards
and quality of materials in different Member
States. The Commission is thus proposing to revise
EU regulation on fertilisers in order to foster a sustainable
European market for such green fertilisers.
LIFE projects have played a significant role in
showing how such a market could operate. One
particularly successful project, LIFE ES-WAMAR
(LIFE06 ENV/E/000044), established three companies
to demonstrate in different areas the benefits
of a collective approach to the processing and
distribution of pig slurry. The project matched pig
farmers’ need to cost-effectively dispose of slurry
with arable farmers’ need for fertiliser. The collective
management approach was found to enable
cost-sharing, improved energy efficiency and more
accurate field application, the latter thanks to analysis
of the slurry’s nutrient content and the use of
tractors fitted with a computer-controlled dosage
system.
The project was able to steadily increase the
quantity of slurry it managed, reaching a total of
800 000 m 3 of managed manure by its conclusion.
The arable farmers have widely accepted the value
of the pig manure as organic fertiliser, thanks in
part to information and training events for technicians
and farmers. Surveys carried out in the three
sites at the end of the project found that 70% of
farmers polled said they are more aware of environmental
issues and more engaged with correct
slurry management since they joined. The project
also led to the creation of 16 permanent jobs at
the three management centres.
Also in Spain, the IBERWASTE project (LIFE11
ENV/ES/000562) further addressed the issue of
disposal and re-use of pig waste, in this case from
abattoirs and pork processing plants. The project
created protocols for the collection, classification,
disposal and preservation of all pig wastes, including
blood, hair, tail and smelting water wastes.
It also defined a method of using wastewater
from the smelting procedure that turns the protein
pig waste into a valuable fertiliser. The aim
of the project was to completely close the loop,
achieving 100% waste recovery from the pork industry
chain and thus eliminating the sending of
pig waste to sewage treatment plants. The project
used ECO-hydrolysis of the wastes and assessed
the usefulness for agriculture of the hydrolysates
obtained. This opened up potential new markets
for a hitherto valueless waste. Field trials showed
that the hydrolysed solution could make an effective
biostimulant for phytosanitary companies. The
differential between the low costs of production
ES-WAMAR turned slurry from pig farms into a resource for arable farmers. Better management of pig slurry also helps
to preserve the quality of soil and water bodies
Photo: LIFE06 ENV/E/000044
SECONDARY RAW MATERIAL
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