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Farmers’ Preferences for Fertilizers derived from Domestic Sewage and Kitchen Waste – A Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany

In view of increasing energy and resource scarcities, nutrient recycling from domestic wastewater is a promising way to obtain mineral fertilizers. Given the lacking evidence about the acceptance of recycling fertilizers by the farming sector, we elicited farmer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for selected attributes of mineral fertilizers made from domestic sewage and kitchen waste. We conducted a Discrete Choice Experiment with 206 German farmers and fitted a Random Parameter Logit (RPL) model.

 

Assuming an average market price level of around 300 euros per tonne of N-P-K fertilizer, the choice experiment revealed that farmers not engaged in non-food production such as forage cultivation or renewable energies activities and without farmer-to-consumer direct marketing would accept a recycling fertilizer only together with a financial compensation via price discount of approximately 10%. The average WTP drops considerably if a fertilizer’s heavy metal contents are relatively high and if the absence of drug residues cannot be guaranteed, whereas a customizable nutrient composition and a constant supply availability would have a sales promoting effect.

 

Farmers’ characteristics can only partly explain the notable heterogeneity of the WTP for the considered fertilizer attributes. Even though the WTP for a recycling fertilizer is on average less than that for a conventional mineral fertilizer, the estimated WTP standard deviations suggest that not all farmers expect a financial compensation via price discount when purchasing recycling fertilizers.

Utai, K., Narjes, M., Krimly, T. und C. Lippert (2022): Farmers’ Preferences for Fertilizers derived from Domestic Sewage and Kitchen Waste – A Discrete Choice Experiment in Germany. German Journal of Agricultural Economics (GJAE) 71 (4);.

DOI: 10.30430/gjae.2022.0235

Fachgebiet für Produktionstheorie und Ressourcenökonomik

Institut für Landwirtschaftliche Betriebslehre, Universität Hohenheim

Publikation im German Journal
of Agricultural Economics (GJAE)

Dezember 2022

Publikation in "Sustainability" erschienen

Stakeholder Assessment on Closing Nutrient Cycles through Co-Recycling of Biodegradable Household Kitchen Waste and Black Water between Rural and Urban Areas in South India

Agricultural land degradation, urban migration, increasing food demand and waste, and inadequate sanitation systems all affect farmers, local society, and the environment in South India. Joint recycling of biodegradable secondary household resources to close nutrient cycles between urban and rural regions can address all these challenges and thus several SDGs at the same time. Efforts are being made to this end, but many attempts fail. The central research question is, therefore: how can co-recycling concepts be evaluated in this context?

 

For this purpose, composting plants, biogas fermenters, and a high-tech concept to produce plant charcoal, design fertilizer, and biopolymers are considered. The aim of this study is to evaluate the recycling concepts from the stakeholders’ perspective to avoid gaps between theory and practice. Six expert and one focus group interviews on two successful on-site case studies and 15 online expert interviews with thematic actors were qualitatively evaluated and presented in a social network analysis to identify preferences and indicators for the further evaluation of co-recycling concepts.

 

The results show that the focus is on mature technologies such as compost and biogas.High-tech solutions are currently still in rudimentary demand but will play a more important role in the future.

To evaluate such concepts, seven key indicators and their measured values were identified and clustered into the categories ecological, social, technical, economic, and connective. The results show that this methodology of close interaction with stakeholders and the evaluation of successful regional case studies minimize the gap between practice and theory, contribute to several goals of the SDGs, and thus enable such concepts to be implemented sustainably.

Fendel, V., Kranert, M., Maurer, C., Garcés-Sánchez, G., Huang, J., & Ramakrishna, G. (2022). Stakeholder Assessment on Closing Nutrient Cycles through Co-Recycling of Biodegradable Household Kitchen Waste and Black Water between Rural and Urban Areas in South India. Recycling, 7(4), 49.

https://doi.org/10.3390/recycling7040049

Institut für Siedlungswasserbau, Wassergüte- und Abfallwirtschaft, Universität Stuttgart

Publikation in "Recycling" erschienen

Juli 2022

Publikation in "Sustainability" erschienen

The Potential of the Co-Recycling of Secondary Biodegradable Household Resources Including Wild Plants to Close Nutrient and Carbon Cycles in Agriculture in Germany

ProjektmitarbeiterInnen der Universität Stuttgart haben in der Juni-Ausgabe des wissenshatlichen Journals  "Sustainability " einen Artikel zu einer Studie veröfffentlicht (englisch).

Ziel der Studie ist es, das Potenzial zur Schonung natürlicher Ressourcen (fossile Ressourcen, Mineraldünger, fruchtbare Böden und Biodiversität) mit alternativen Kreislaufkonzepten zu bewerten, um zur Erreichung der globalen Nachhaltigkeitsziele beizutragen.
 

Die Studie untersuchte den potenziellen Beitrag der Substitution konventioneller Produkte durch drei alternative Konzepte der Kreislaufwirtschaft. Dazu gehören die Haushaltsressourcen Schwarzwasser, Küchen- und Grünabfälle für die Produktion von
von Designdünger, Pflanzenkohle, Biopolymeren (Konzept 1) und Biogas (Konzept 2), sowie die Kombination von Haushaltsabfällen mit Wildpflanzen zur Erzeugung von Biogas (Konzept 3).

 

Fendel, V.; Maurer, C.; Kranert, M.; Huang, J.; Schäffner, B.(2022):
The Potential of the Co-Recycling of Secondary Biodegradable Household Resources IncludingWild Plants to Close Nutrient and Carbon Cycles in Agriculture in Germany. In: Sustainability 2022, 14, 5277.

https://doi.org/ 10.3390/su14095277

Institut für Siedlungswasserbau, Wassergüte- und Abfallwirtschaft, Universität Stuttgart

Publikation in "Sustainability" erschienen

Juni 2022

Biopolymerproduktion aus Abwasser-
strömen für eine kreislauforientierte Siedlungswasserwirtschaft

Projektmitarbeiter der TU Kaiserlautern haben in der Juni-Ausgabe von "Wasser und Abfall", der Zeitschrift des Bundes der Ingenieure für Wasserwirtschaft, Abfallwirtschaft und Kulturbau (BWK) e.V., einen Artikel  veröfffentlicht. Aus Sicht von RUN werden die ersten Ergebnisse einer Versäuerung von Schwarz- und Braunwasser gezeigt und mit Industrieabwässern verglichen.

 

In Laborversuchen wurden Primärschlamm, Braunwasser, Schwarzwasser, Brauerei- und Molkereiabwasser anaerob versäuert, um damit kurzkettige organische Säuren zu gewinnen, die als Substrat zur Biopolymerproduktion genutzt werden können. Ausgehend von den Versäuerungsergebnissen der jeweiligen Abwasserströme wurden Potenzialabschätzungen zur Biopolymerproduktionskapazität für Deutschland durchgeführt. 

Thomas Uhrig M.Sc., Julia Zimmer M.Sc., Florian Rankenhohn M.Sc., Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heidrun Steinmetz (2020): Biopolymerproduktion aus Abwasserströmen für eine kreislauforientierte Siedlungswasserwirtschaft, In: Wasser und Abfall, Issue 6/2020.

Fachgebiet Ressourceneffiziente Abwasserbehandlung

der Technischen Universität Kaiserslautern

Publikation in "Wasser und Abfall"

Juni 2020

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