Liquid fertilizer production from organic waste by conventional and microwave-assisted extraction technologies: Techno-economic and environmental assessment
Open accessAbstract
The use of mineral fertilizers in agriculture has significantly increased to support the growing global food demand. Organic fertilizers are produced from renewable waste materials to overcome the drawbacks of inorganic fertilizers. The development of novel production processes of organic fertilizers entails a significant advance towards the circular economy that reincorporates waste materials into the production cycle. In this work, the economic and environmental feasibility of an industrial plant with a treatment capacity of 300 kg/h of organic waste for the production of liquid fertilizers has been performed. Two extraction technologies (conventional and microwave) and two solvents (water and alkaline) have been compared to select the most sustainable and profitable scenario for scaling-up. The extraction process consists of 2 steps: extraction followed by a concentration stage (necessary only if water extraction is applied). The resolution of the mass balances shows that the fertilizer production under alkaline conditions is ten times higher than for water-based extraction. The economic analysis demonstrated that the total investment cost of microwave technology (>3.5 M€) is three times higher compared to the conventional extraction technology (<1.5 M€), mainly due to the higher complexity of the equipment. These facts directly impact the minimum selling price, because the fertilizers obtained by conventional extraction with alkaline solvent would have a lower selling price (about 1 €/L). As for environmental assessment, the indicators show that the environmental impact produced by water-based extraction is higher than alkaline-solvent extraction, mainly due to the necessity of a concentration stage of the liquid extract to meet the requirements of European regulations. In view of the results obtained in the economic and environmental evaluation, it could be concluded that the most favourable scenario for scaling up the production of liquid fertilizers from organic waste is the conventional extraction under alkaline conditions.
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Traditional solvent extraction is a less energy-required intensive method, with a selling cost of €1/liter, and the fertilizer yield is ten times higher than that of water-based extraction.
“In addition, traditional solvent extraction is a less energy-required intensive method, with a selling cost of €1/liter (Fernández-Delgado et al. 2022), and the fertilizer yield is ten times higher than that of water-based extraction (Yan et al. 2022).”
From Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Fernández-Delgado et al. 2022
With a lower total investment cost for construction and production, a minimum production cost of €0.5/liter, a more extensive spread between the minimum selling price and the market price, and the ability to extract liquid fertilizers from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste under potassium hydroxide conditions, this method performs better on the market.
“With a lower total investment cost for construction and production, a minimum production cost of €0.5/liter, a more extensive spread between the minimum selling price and the market price, and the ability to extract liquid fertilizers from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste under potassium hydroxide conditions, this method performs better on the market.”
From Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Fernández-Delgado et al. 2022
The method to manufacture liquid fertilizer from municipal solid waste is viable.
“The study conducted by Fernández-Delgado et al. (2022) supported the viability of using the method to manufacture liquid fertilizer from municipal solid waste.”
From Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Fernández-Delgado et al. 2022
To be economically feasible, the solution's net current value, which is the difference between the project's cash inflows and outflows, must be positive.
“To be economically feasible, the solution's net current value, which is the difference between the project's cash inflows and outflows, must be positive (Fernández-Delgado et al. 2022;Afroze et al. 2018;Xue et al. 2022;Nabavi et al. 2020).”
From Recycling municipal, agricultural and industrial waste into energy, fertilizers, food and construction materials, and economic feasibility: a review (2023) · cites this paper as Fernández-Delgado et al. 2022
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Conventional versus green extraction techniques — a comparative perspective
Picot-Allain, C., Mahomoodally, M. F., Ak, G., & Zengin, G. (2021) · Current Opinion in Food Science · doi:10.1016/j.cofs.2021.02.009 · Cited by 456 · see citing works
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Peng, X., Jiang, Y., Chen, Z., Osman, A. I., Farghali, M., Rooney, D. W., & Yap, P.-S. (2023) · Environmental Chemistry Letters · doi:10.1007/s10311-022-01551-5 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fernández-Delgado, M., del Amo-Mateos, E., Lucas, S., García-Cubero, M. T., & Coca, M.
- Affiliations
- Universidad de Valladolid (ES)
- Corresponding author
- Coca, Mónica
- Venue
- Science of The Total Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-02
- Volume
- 806
- Issue
- Pt 4
- Pages
- 150904
- ISSN
- 0048-9697 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3206838096
- Cited by
- 47
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 10
- FWCI
- 4.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Science of The Total Environment (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Hispana (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- UVaDOC UVaDOC University of Valladolid Documentary Repository (University of Valladolid) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Interreg Europe
- Junta de Castilla y Leon Consejeria de Educacion
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Phosphorus and nutrient management
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Agriculture, Plant Science, Crop Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Wastewater Treatment and Reuse
- Keywords
- liquid fertilizer, organic waste, microwave-assisted extraction, conventional extraction, water-based extraction, techno-economic analysis, environmental impact assessment, circular economy, fertilizer production, mass balance, scale-up, minimum selling price, investment costs
- MeSH terms
- Agriculture, Environment, Fertilizers, Microwaves, Technology
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