How to innovate manure and waste management and recycling?

Oene Oenema,

Wageningen University

The Netherlands,

How to innovate?

“The Stone Age did not end because humans ran out of

stones. It ended because we invented bronze tools.“

[Sheikh Yamani, The Telegraph 25 June 2000]

The Oil Age will end long before the world runs out of oil,

because it is time for a re-think about how we live”

[William McDonough, 14 June 2005]

A push strategy or a pull strategy?

Research & Development

Production

Marketing

Need?

Research & Development

Production

Marketing

Expressed market Need

A Push Strategy?

A Pull Strategy?

Transition management

Endings &

Beginnings

Dreaming &

Scheming

The Heroic

Saga

The Promised

land

Facilitation & incentives

Transitions in manure management

Until few decades ago; availability of manure defined

productivity & prosperity

Invention of fertilizers; manure became a waste

1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment

1991 EU Nitrates Directive

2008 Scarcity of phosphorus again on political agenda

Transitions in manure processing

Three ‘waves’:

Late 1960s - early 1970s: driven by technology

1. Anaerobic digestion of manures (SE Asia)

2. Sewage water treatment technology

Late 1980s – early 1990s: driven by subsidies & technology

Poultry manure drying and export

Pig slurry processing, drying and pelleting

Mid 2000s - ....: driven by policy, scarcity & technology

Anaerobic digestion, pasteurization

Separation, drying & incineration, biochar

Ultrafiltration & reverse osmosis

What do we know about the market needs?

What sort of manure products do growers need?

How much do they want to pay?

Questionaires in INEMAD, ReUseWaste

Composition depends on manure

management chain

Feeding

Treatment

Housing

Storage

Application

Crop

production

Potential market in EU

Supply of manure in EU

● 200-300 Tg organic matter ~ 1-3 Mg/ha/yr

● 9-10 Tg N ~ 50-100 kg/ha/yr

● 2-3 Tg P ~ 15-30 kg/ha/yr

● 8-10 Tg K ~ 40–100 kg/ha/yr

Demands:

Soil organic matter contents seem decreasing in EU

● Vegetable land > root crops >> cereals > grassland

Fertilizer use in EU

● ~ 10 Tg N per yr; ~ 1 Tg P per yr; ~ 2 Tg K per yr

What is the economic value of manure?

Depends on:

Local/regional balance between demand and supply;

Its composition:

Wanted substances (organic matter, nutrients)

Unwanted substances (water, pathogens, smell, etc)

Price of fertilizers and green manures

Governmental regulations

Manure market is a ‘pseudo market’

Manure supply • Animal population • Animal feeding • Animal housing •

Manure demand • Own farm • Other farms • Export

Manure market • Storage • Transport • Processing • Acceptance

Government • regulations • subsidies •

Government • Regulations • monitoring •

Government • application limits • application timing •

Manure market

Supply is mainly related to

● Demand for animal protein

● Governmental regulations

Demand is mainly related to:

● Fertilizer prices

● Governmental regulations

Does the price regulate the balance of supply & demand?

What is the influence of manure processing?

Development of niche markets

Central idea:

● Create specialities with added value

● Develop marketing strategy

● Find rich and receptive customers

Examples:

● Enriched organo-mineral fertilizers

● Organo Plus, Organo Gold

● High-value cash crop growers

● Gardeners

The Netherlands as case

East South Other

About 50% of the manure produced cannot be disposed off on the farms where the manure is produced. Two regions with surpluses

Supply control or demand control?

Manure supply •

Manure demand •

Manure market •

Government • Production quota • agreements

Government • monitoring • verification • controll

Government • application limits • manure processing

Obligatory manure processing in NL

Governmental regulation from 2014

Manure processing is manure P export

Obligations for farms with manure surplus

Obligations (percentages of manure surplus) differ per

region and year

Current capacity (34 Gg manure P per yr) is limiting

Obligatory manure processing is export of P

Feeding

Animals

Manure production

Application own farm

Manure surplus

Application other farms

Obligatory processing

Export

Hence, obligatory

manure processing

is export of

manure

phosphorus

Obligatory manure processing

East South Other

Region 2014 2015 2016 2017

% % % %

South 30 50 ? ~70

East 15 30 ? ~60

Other 5 10 ? ~10

Totaal

Cost of manure disposal via manure market

Poultry manure: 15-25 euro per ton: problem ‘solved’

Pig manure: 10-20 euro per ton: critical

Cattle manure: 5-15 euro per ton: still doable

In late spring 2015:

● Processing capacity still limited

● Disposal costs high

● Manure storages full

● Stables become empty

What do we learn from this case?

Role of government in manure processing is large;

Cost of manure disposal highly sensitive to fluctuations in demand and supply (also because storage is costly);

Willingness to invest in manure processing is limited, because of ‘free riders’ behaviour;

Cost of manure processing is critical factor

Manure processing is supply-driven

Summary & conclusions

Innovation = invention + implementation

Implemention is critical factor, and depending on the market

Research link between SOM demand & MOM supply is weak

Manure processing is still technology and government driven

Obligatory manure processing is interesting case

● Manure processing = export of manure P

Manure disposal cost in NL, euro per ton

Cattle

Pigs

Poultry

Manure production and disposal, Gg P2O5/yr

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Manureproduction

Application

own farm

Manure

Surplus

Phosphorus, Gg per year

Manure production may not exceed 172 Gg P2O5 per year

Application limits for phosphorus (P2O5/ha)

Soil P status 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Low 85 85 85 85 80 75

Neutral 80 75 70 65 65 60

High 75 70 65 55 55 50

Soil P status 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Low 100 100 100 100 100 100

Neutral 95 95 95 95 95 90

High 90 90 85 85 85 80

Arable land

Grassland

Relative distribution of soil P-status, %

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Zuid Oost ov NL

proc

ent

Fosfaattoestand per regio (bouwland)

Laag

Neutraal

Hoog

Niet opgegeven

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Zuid Oost ov NL

proc

ent

Fosfaattoestand per regio (grasland)

Laag

Neutraal

Hoog

Niet opgegeven

Low

Neutral

High

Not measured

Low

Neutral

High

Not measured

Arable land

Grassland