The ESNI Working Groups

As core part of this initiative, the ESNI community set up 4 Working Groups, led by European projects, discussing major challenges with an impact on the nutrient recycling and recovery.

The ESNI Community currently holds 4 working groups.

Technologies for nutrient recovery

Working Group led by GREENHOOD

Chairs: Laia Llenas Argelaguet, BETA-UVIC, and Nagore Guerra Gorostegi, BETA-UVIC

This working group focuses on revising and discussing innovative technological approaches for recovering nutrients from different side streams. It aims to boost collaboration among different projects by sharing their scientific findings, bottlenecks and limitations identified, solutions and cases of success.

OUTCOMES

Webinar series on monitoring and mitigation of ammonia emissions related to sustainable manure management practices:

  • 17/03/2025 | 14h00 to 16h00 CET – Towards harmonised emission monitoring methods
  • 24/03/2025 | 14h00 to 16h00 CET – Opening the scope of Best Available Techniques (BATs) at farm level: clarifying the status and successful case studies

 

Sustainability assessment (environmental, economic and social)

Working Group led by Novafert

Chair: Jorge Senan Salinas, BETA-UVIC

Projects in this working group cooperate towards finding common approaches for assessing sustainability aspects of the technologies and recovered nutrients. In this regard, efforts are made to discuss common goals, scopes and methodological choices for developing coherent life cycle inventories.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

  • Webinar on Nutrient impact in the application: emissions modelling of and yields in LCA  (2025 – TBC)
  • Experiences of LCA in bio-based and mineral fertiliser industry  (2025 – TBC)

OUTCOMES

Agronomic performance of fertilising products

Working Group led by Nutribudget

Chair: Kari Ylivainio, LUKE

This working group aims to gather all the knowledge related to assessing the agronomic performance of fertilising products, including laboratory and field testing. Discussion on methodologies used, analysis done, quality assessment etc., are relevant aspects of its activities.

OUTCOMES:

Policies

Working Group led by ReNu2Cycle

Chairs: Erik Meers, UGent and Laura Van Scholl, NMI

This group aims to thoroughly analyse the regulatory framework affecting the practical use, application and commercialisation of potentially recovered products. Identifying regulatory bottlenecks and potential solutions is expected to work on preparing joint position papers of the projects participating in reaching policymakers and regulatory stakeholders.

UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

  • Implications of the revised EU- UWWTD (urban wastewater treatment directive) – TBC
  • Webinar on first outcomes of the study on new CMC materials and processes under the FPR (fertilising product regulation) – TBC

 

OUTCOMES