SusPhos exists only three years, but was crowned Frisian Start-up of the Year 2021 already in September. How will the chemistry of SusPhos contribute to a better world? 

Phosphate compounds are an important component of fertilisers and thus indispensable for global food production. There is no alternative to phosphate and the chemist Isaac Asimov warned of a shortage as early as 1959. At the moment, Western Europe obtains its phosphate mainly from phosphate mines in Morocco, China and the US and is therefore strongly dependent on import. On the other hand, the agricultural industry in the Netherlands and Belgium produces an enormous amount of phosphate-rich waste in the form of manure and other waste streams. In 2020, Dutch livestock emitted about 150 million kilograms of phosphate, Belgian livestock about 85 million kilograms. 

This could and should be done differently, thought Marissa de Boer, ceo and founder of SusPhos. The company developed a technique to turn the linear phosphate chain into a closed chain. SusPhos takes phosphate-rich waste streams, such as sludge ash, dairy waste and potato waste, and extracts everything from them: sand, iron and especially phosphate, which it uses to make artificial fertiliser or flame retardants. In their own words, they create ‘smart chemistry for a better world’.