Phosphate in Europe

Of all the major powers, Europe is the most dependent on the importation of phosphate. Almost the entire stock must be imported from outside the continent. Only Finland has its own small reserves. Each year Europe imports approximately 6 kg of phosphate ore per inhabitant. This corresponds with approximately 2.2 million tons of phosphate per year. 0.9 kg of this 6 kg eventually finds its way into waste water via households. This therefore means that at the European level 15% of our imports can be replaced by phosphate from our waste water.

If we look at the quantity of phosphate in the soil the Netherlands has by far the largest excess of all the countries in Europe. There is a shortage of phosphate in the soil in four east European countries, but in the majority of countries there is an excess similar to that in the Netherlands. This means that we can make savings in Europe by using our fertilisers more efficiently when fertilising the soil. If we could then also recover the phosphate from the waste water Europe would be much less dependent on the importation of phosphate ore.