Centralized strategies for decentralized nitrogen recovery: A model for sustainable fertilizer supply chains

Abstract

This study explores how decentralized nitrogen (N) recovery can be aligned with centralized, uniform fertilizer production to enhance economic sustainability and support the European Union's (EU) Farm-to-Fork (F2F) strategy goals of reducing nutrient emissions by 50% and fertilizer use by 20%. Existing NH₃ recovery technologies face adoption challenges, including inconsistent composition, liquid state, and high costs. Our mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model optimizes centralized processing, incorporating pretreatment/transport hubs and monitoring chemical changes. Scenario modelling highlights cost reductions, halving transport costs and reducing pretreatment costs by 43%. Exploiting full nitrogen recovery in manure's liquid fraction increases revenue fivefold with operational costs rising only threefold, boosting net profit from €0.6M (€0.6 kg N⁻¹) to €5.1M (€1.1 kg N⁻¹). These findings demonstrate the economic feasibility of centralized NH₃ processing and provide a scalable framework for improving nutrient circularity across different EU regions and meet EU's environmental targets.

Keywords: Supply chain, EU green deal, circular economy, Modelling, Decentralised economy