Optimizing bio-based fertilisers in agriculture

European food production has large potential to reduce its dependence on imported mineral P fertilisers and fossil energy consumption to produce N fertilisers by taking full advantage of under-used nutrient-rich organic side-streams. This requires common efforts that can be facilitated by the framework, actions and legislation within EU. The Lex4Bio project aims to guide the transition and system change from mineral to bio-based fertilisation by collecting and processing nutrient stock, flow and deficiency data, reviewing the required technological solutions and considering the economic and social benefits and limitations for bio-based fertilisation to become as fluent as the present use of mineral fertilisers. Currently Western Europe has a positive and Eastern Europe negative P balances. In Lex4Bio the present nutrient flows and regional requirements for fertilisers are estimated by harmonized methods in order to form the firm knowledge needed to set up the most realistic ways to channel the nutrient flows where needed. This is followed by presenting classifications of the best available technologies for producing regionally tailored bio-based fertilisers to secure environmental protection and food and human safety. In Lex4Bio, the knowledge, data bases and recommendations will be gathered and processed together with stakeholders providing best solutions for decreasing the dependency on imported fertilisers and closing the nutrient cycles.