EasyMining advocates for circular nutrients at UN climate change conference COP28

The innovation company EasyMining will attend the UN climate summit COP28 as a part of the Swedish delegation. The objective is to showcase how three key agricultural nutrients can be recovered from waste, replacing fertiliser from traditional, climate-intensive production dependent on virgin sources.

– Agriculture is responsible for a third of global emissions, and production of fertiliser plays a large role in that. When we start circulating the nutrients we have already produced instead, it will be an important tool in tackling the climate crisis, says Jan Svärd, CEO of EasyMining.

United Nations’ annual climate change conference is called COP28 this year, taking place in Dubai in early December. EasyMining, along with its parent entity, environmental company Ragn-Sells, will participate in the Swedish delegation, joining some thirty other parties including Northvolt, Volvo, and IKEA. Mr. Svärd will participate in the conference from December 2 to 10.

According to the UN, the extraction and processing of virgin materials account for about 50 percent of climate change. The three key nutrients that make up fertiliser are obvious examples of this problematic sourcing.

• Phosphorus is produced from mined phosphate rock, a practise which causes large climate emissions. Meanwhile, large amounts of this nutrient present in city sewers is wasted when sewage sludge is deposited. EasyMining’s solution is to incinerate the sludge and extract clean phosphorus from the ash.

• Nitrogen fertiliser is produced from the atmosphere’s nitrogen, using a century-old method which involved burning fossil gas. This practise alone is responsible for almost one percent of global emissions every year. With EasyMining’s technology, the nitrogen from sewage water can instead be recovered and used in production.

• Potassium, like phosphorus, is mined, primarily in Canada, Russia, and Belarus. Earlier this year, Ragn-Sells inaugurated a plant in Sweden using EasyMining’s technology to produce potassium salt from waste incineration residue.

– If we are serious about building a sustainable society, we have to start using the raw materials we already have instead of constantly producing new ones. We look forward to showing the world how circular nutrients can mitigate climate impact and help feed more people without exceeding planetary boundaries, says Mr. Svärd.

EasyMining holds patents for all three technologies: Ash2Phos for phosphorus, Ash2Salt for potassium and other salts, and Aqua2N for nitrogen.

Ragn-Sells will organise and participate in over ten seminars and panels, including at the Swedish pavilion, with the Nordic Council of Ministers, the International Chamber of Commerce, and at the Estonian Pavilion. This will include cooperation and conversations with a number of Swedish and foreign ministers, as well as the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, who will participate in a session about the energy supply needed for the transition to a sustainable society. On top of this, a host of bilateral meetings about circularity and climate is scheduled.

COP28 will take place from 30 November to 12 December.

For more information, interviews, and comments before, during, and after COP28, please contact:
Jan Svärd, CEO at EasyMining, +46 (0)70 978 64 74, jan.svard@easymining.com
Emma Ranerfors, Press Officer, Ragn-Sells Group, +46 (0)10-723 24 16, press@ragnsells.com


Fact: Circularity and climate

• According to the UN, the extraction and processing of natural resources account for about 50 percent of climate change, 90 percent of biodiversity loss, and 90 percent of the threat to access to water.
• Doubling the circular share of the global economy, in combination with countries fulfilling their obligations under the Paris Agreement, would keep global warming to well under two degrees Celsius, according to the UN-backed Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative.
  
  

Fact: COP28

• The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an annual international climate summit.
• This year, COP28 is held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
• The meeting takes place from 30 November to 12 December.
• During the yearly COP meetings, all countries who signed up to the Paris Agreement in 2015 negotiate solutions for tackling climate change.