Gelsenwasser and EasyMining announce joint venture in Germany

EasyMining, an innovation company in Ragn-Sells Group, and the German utilities company Gelsenwasser today announce the signing of an agreement for the creation of a joint company named Phosphorgewinnung Schkopau GmbH (PGS). The objective of the joint venture is to build the world’s first phosphorus recovery plant based on the Ash2Phos technology, construction starting already in 2022.

"Cooperation across the value chain is key to circular transformation. So by creating this joint venture we can take advantage of our complementary knowledge, and use a resource efficient technology to recover a scarce substance such as phosphorus”, says Jan Svärd, CEO of EasyMining.

Already in 2018, EasyMining and Gelsenwasser signed a Letter of Intent, and in September 2020 the company’s agreed to expand their cooperation with the primary goal to construct a major new facility for extracting phosphorus from incinerated sewage sludge. Now a joint venture between the parties called Phosphorgewinnung Schkopau GmbH (PGS) is in place.

The objective of the joint venture is to already in 2022 start building the first phosphorus recycling plant based on EasyMining’s patented Ash2Phos-technology at Schkopau Chemical Park. Initially, the plant will have a capacity of 30,000 tons of sewage sludge ash.

“We are proud and excited to work with Gelsenwasser in this joint venture. The experience that Phosphorgewinnung Schkopau will gain from the first plant will be important for the expansion of the concept to other locations and facilities”, says Svärd.

Overall, an expansion of capacities in Germany to 300,000 tons is planned within the next ten years, and that is approximately half of the future sewage sludge ash volume in Germany.

For more information, please contact:
Jan Svärd, CEO EasyMining +46 (0)70 978 64 74
Christian Kabbe, Managing director EasyMining Germany +49 176 61537926
Emma Ranerfors, Press officer +46 (0)10 723 24 16

Facts: GELSENWASSER AG
GELSENWASSER AG is a German utilities company operating in the fields of gas, electricity, water and wastewater. The company is one of Germany´s largest in its business and specializes in renewable resources. GELSENWASSER AG is located in Gelsenkirchen and has an annual turnover of 1.2 billion euros (2017).
Read more on Gelsenwasser website.

Facts: Germany’s phosphorus recovery law
In 2017 Germany introduced a law mandating making phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge mandatory for wastewater treatment facilities serving 50 000 people or above. Cities have until 2022 to decide which technology they will implement to meet the demands.

Facts: Ash2Phos technology
The Ash2Phos process can transform the sludge ash into a raw material for phosphorus extraction and thereby be a part of a circular solution for phosphorus management. The process consists of three steps: a first acidic step, a second alkaline step (where intermediate products are produced), and finally a conversion step where the intermediates are processed into final products. Read more