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