Recovered phosphorus as feed phosphate to pigs and avians

Recovered phosphorus, in this case from Ash2Phos-technology, has attractive properties as a raw material for fertilizers and as feed phosphate with a high phosphorus content, low fluorine content and high solubility in citric acid. The solubility is over 90 percent, same level as monocalcium phosphate (MCP) which is used as feed phosphate today. The PCP (precipitated calcium phosphate) also has a lower CO2-emissions and is more environmental friendly than virgin phosphorus. 

The main aim of the project is to test the digestibility of the PCP in pigs and poultry. Therefore one digestibility study with pigs and one with poultry will be performed and the digestibility of PCP will be compared to digestibility values of monocalcium phosphate that is a commonly used phosphorus source today.   

The phosphorus digestibility tells how much of the phosphorus you feed to the animal that can be utilized. Knowing the digestibility enable us to compose feeds with the right amount of phosphorus and thereby optimize the animals’ performance and reduce excess of phosphorus in the manure.

The EU has listed phosphorus as one of 30 critical raw materials, as phosphorus is critical for the EU economy and the supply is linked to several risk factors. With the end of degradable phosphates in sight and increased demands on resource efficiency, phosphorus recycling is an inevitable part of our future society. Wastewater is a key source for phosphorus to recover. 

However, today the legislation for feed material is linear, prohibiting recovered nutrients originating in wastewater. A secondary aim with this project is therefore to use the results from the study to raise the regulatory barriers for recovered Phosphorus used as feed phosphate to the EU commission. 

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Video: Can recycled phosphorus be used as feed phosphate?