Puraloop: Bringing Recycled Phosphorus to Crop Production

High-quality phosphorus fertiliser created with recycled phosphorus sources.

April 8, 2024
2 mins
Cristian Terrones
Agronomy & Product Specialist

ICL’s latest phosphorus fertiliser, Puraloop, is bringing something new to ICL’s crop nutrition products: Recycled Phosphorus.

Phosphorus is one of the essential nutrients required for healthy and productive crops. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that fertilisers containing more than 46 million tonnes of phosphate were applied globally in 2021. This phosphate would be in one of the many different phosphate forms, including diammonium phosphate, combined NPK products, or superphosphates, to name just a few.

One thing that many of these commercial fertilisers have in common is that the source of the phosphate in these products will often be phosphate rock. Many manufacturers use a production process that has changed little over the last century. Traditional P fertiliser production requires considerable energy to turn the phosphate rock into a material ready for field application.

A New Phosphate Fertiliser

With a commitment to sustainability, ICL has already invested in energy-efficient fertiliser plants to environmental footprint of our traditional phosphate fertiliser production. Now, with Puraloop, we are incorporating an entirely new process. ICL has developed an innovative new technology to create our first phosphate fertiliser that includes recycled materials.

The main features of Puraloop are:

  • Puraloop is the first phosphorus fertiliser from an ICL plant that includes recycled resources.
  • With double-action phosphorus, half of the P is immediately available for an initial boost, while the remaining P is root activated, reducing soil P fixation, and improving P use efficiency.
  • Puraloop contains phosphorus from recycled organic residue streams.
  • Utilising recycled materials embraces the circular economy approach, reducing global waste by turning waste into a valuable resource.
  • Puraloop is safe to use, with a heavy metal content that is below EU limits.

Recycling Phosphorus, Reducing Waste

The pioneering production process used to create ICL Puraloop embraces the principles of the circular economy, taking phosphorus-containing organic waste and recycling it into a high-quality, dependable, sustainable phosphorus plant nutrition product.

This production process not only helps reduce global waste but also creates a valuable plant nutrition resource.

Quality P with Puraloop

While the benefits of using recycled phosphorus are clear, the other critical aspect of any fertiliser is performance. Fertilisers must be capable of delivering the nutrients that plants require, something you can be confident of with Puraloop.

Puraloop is a consistent, granular product. The compact, free-flowing granules are easy to use, and the highly consistent, dust-free nature ensures uniform spreading in the field.

Proven Results

Our professional agronomists have put Puraloop through its paces in real-world field trials as part of ICL’s rigorous fertiliser testing process. Their verdict is that Puraloop performs as well as other traditional P fertilisers.

Puraloop has double-action phosphorus, containing both soluble and root-activated phosphorus. Plants get an initial boost from the soluble P in the fertilizer which is immediately availability. Meanwhile, the root-activated P provides prolonged phosphorus availability, reducing soil P fixation, and ensuring plants can take up more of the phosphorus they need, improving phosphorus use efficiency.

 

Closing the Loop with Puraloop

ICL’s new high-quality Puraloop phosphorus fertilizer presents a real opportunity for growers to ensure the quality and yield of their crops while improving phosphorus use efficiency with a product that actively reduces global waste.

Excellent for all crops and soils, Puraloop is a safe, easy-to-use product which can replace other phosphorus products in blends and compound fertilisers and is ideal for direct soil application.

With proven performance and ease of use, Puraloop offers growers a reliable solution to enhance crop yield and quality while contributing to a more sustainable agricultural future.