NPK Recovery joined Future Space in May 2023. Their growing team of five are working to create an innovative urine-based fertiliser.
Their aim is to recycle the nutrients in urine, turning a waste product into a phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen rich fertiliser. Fertilisers are used across the farming industry and are critical for UK food security.
Last year, farmers averaged a consumption of 1,500,000 tonnes of manufactured fertiliser per year. Manufactured fertilisers rely on highly energy-intensive processes to extract critical nutrients, like nitrogen.
Replacing even a small proportion of synthetic fertilisers for a natural and sustainable alternative could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from production and freight.
The benefits of the NPK Recovery system could also derive cost and environmental savings for overburdened wastewater management companies, who have collectively been under scrutiny for sewage management entering UK waterways in the past year.
Circularity is the vision
At the heart of this vision, explains founder Hannah Van Den Bergh, is a circular nutrient recycling system that revalues our waste.
“In the next two years we will be working with our partners Peequal, who have an innovative female urinal company, to collect urine from key sites that have an abundance of waste. You will be able to find us at Glastonbury Festival, where we will take waste and transport it just 15 minutes down the road for processing.
“We want to radically rethink how these critical systems in our society work and present solutions that deliver environmental benefits. Rather than producing manufactured fertilisers that rely on finite, mined nutrients, we want to return nutrient production to farmers.”
Hannah Van Den Bergh, Founder, NPK Recovery
NPK Recovery has received support from Innovate UK, Defra, WECA and The Co-op Carbon Innovation Fund. They have now kicked-off a two-year project to transform this idea into a working system.
Making a home at Future Space
The team is building their first containerised system here at Future Space.
“There’s so many reasons why Future Space is the natural home for NPK Recovery”, says Hannah.
“Not only does it have lab space, office space, and regular events, Future Space has been open to our new ideas, including welcoming our shipping container on site. This type of space for innovation is just not possible elsewhere in the city!
“Discovering we’re not the only urine-based business on site is also a plus, at a recent event we teamed up with FlouretiQ to ask for ‘donations’ from other Future Space users.
“It suits us to have a flexible, hybrid working environment and a culture for new ideas. The staff have been so welcoming and are always willing to hear out new ideas and make introductions for us.”
“We’re looking into opportunities to work with UWE Bristol, for example on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership or with Master’s students looking to gain experience in the sector or test their ideas.”
When asked about the growth of the company, Hannah has her sights set on the future.
“One area we need to understand better is what volume we can process in the container, and what volume farms need”, says Hannah. “How many containers will we need in an area to service the agricultural industry?
“These are all questions we’ll be looking to answer with the support of the University Enterprise Zone – we’d love any interested students or researchers to reach out to us if they’re interested in learning more.
Find out more about NPK Recovery or contact Hannah@vandenberghuk.com
