Swedish innovation company EasyMining has developed a process to recover important nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus from bioindustry waste as part of a now-concluded research project. The aim for the process is to turn these nutrients into high-quality, heavy-metal-free fertilisers with well-defined chemistry and application areas.
The project started in November 2023 and concluded in spring 2026. During the 2.5-year project, the technology progressed from laboratory concept to pilot-scale operation. The process selectively extracts potassium from bio-industrial waste, such as poultry litter ash, using hydrometallurgical methods, while separating phosphorus and trace contaminants. Heavy-metal-free potassium sulphate and chloride salts can then be recovered as directly applicable substances for both fertilising and chemical industry.
By using only secondary raw materials such as bioindustry by-products and waste in particular, the process provides a circular alternative that could supplement or replace conventional fertilisers. The process also reduces waste disposal, decreases the dependence on imported potassium resources, and improves local recycling and resource circularity.
As Ehsan Moslehi, R&D Engineer at EasyMining, who leads the company's efforts on potassium recovery says: “It is high time we start implementing technologies that allow us to recover and reuse the resources already circulating in society, while building more resilient and circular systems for the future.”
Ehsan Moslehi, R&D Engineer at EasyMining
The process produces fertilising potassium materials with > 99% purity, which are also directly plant available. This was demonstrated in pot trials, where the produced materials behaved similarly to mineral fertilisers. Together with the general preference for sulphate-based potassium fertilisers in many agricultural applications, this will help introduce these materials to a market in need of a clean and reliable alternative to mineral fertilisers.
The life-cycle-assessment (LCA) strongly indicates that the recovery of potassium from ash is consuming fewer resources and has lower carbon footprint than conventional potassium sulphate production using the Mannheim process.
EasyMining will now continue work developing sustainable potassium as part of its commitment to develop, design and build patented processes for the production of clean products from waste in a new project funded by Biosociety. The focus will be to research the technology more in-depth and apply it to other waste streams common in the Nordics, such as straw ash and fermentation residues.
Funding
The project is funded under the strategic innovation programme BioInnovation, a joint venture of Vinnova, Formas and The Swedish Energy Agency.
Learn more about Sustainable Potassium.
EasyMining develops and implements sustainable industrial-scale processes that create true circularity. We convert elements from waste into essential nutrients for plant and animal growth. We are owned by Ragn-Sells Group, a privately held corporate group involved in waste management, environmental services, and recycling in Northern Europe. www.easymining.com
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