Swedish recycling and recovery company, Ragn-Sells, has announced plans to construct a new phosphorus recovery plant in Helsingborg, Sweden.
Scheduled to be operational by 2028, the facility will process 30,000 tonnes of incinerated sewage sludge ash annually, yielding 15,000 tonnes of calcium phosphate. The plant will utilise EasyMining’s Ash2Phos technology, which it suggests can extract over 90 per cent of phosphorus from the sludge ash.
The Helsingborg plant will be the second in Europe to employ the Ash2Phos process, alongside an ongoing project in Schkopau, Germany, which is aiming to start production in 2027.
Jan Svärd, CEO of EasyMining, explained the recovery process: “Our technology turns waste into valuable resources, enabling a circular economy and contributing to a more resilient food system in Europe and beyond.”
Ragn-Sells reports that the phosphorus recycled from this process is chemically equivalent to its mined counterpart but free from contaminants like heavy metals. It can replace virgin phosphorus in fertilisers and animal feed, reducing dependence on mined resources.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as much as 80 per cent of phosphorus is lost or wasted during use, adding to the pollution of lakes, rivers, and the ocean.
Anders Kihl, Head of Strategy and R&D at Ragn-Sells, added: “With this new plant, we are scaling up our ability to recover phosphorus and provide Europe with a sustainable alternative to mined resources. It’s a vital step in addressing global challenges like resource scarcity and climate change.”
The project has secured SEK 51 million in funding from Kilatkilvet, Sweden’s state investment aid program for climate initiatives.