Europe’s food security does not begin in the field, but with access to fertilisers. In its new Action Plan, the European Commission highlights that European agriculture remains heavily dependent on imports of both raw materials and fertilisers themselves. The future resilience of Europe’s food system is therefore linked to domestic production, the circular economy, innovation, and more efficient use of resources.
In May, the European Commission presented its Action Plan for Fertilisers, responding to growing geopolitical risks, a high dependence on imports, and the long-term need to strengthen the competitiveness of European agriculture and industry. At the same time, the document confirms the growing importance of technologies based on the principles of the circular economy, efficient resource utilisation, and reduced dependence on fossil-based feedstocks.
Fertilisers Are Part of Europe’s Security
Fertilisers play a crucial role in agricultural productivity, the economic stability of farming businesses, and food security. They provide crops with essential nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – without which current levels of agricultural production would not be possible. The European Commission therefore identifies fertilisers as one of the key prerequisites for a functioning modern food system.
Recent years and months have demonstrated just how vulnerable the current model is. The European Union remains significantly dependent on imports of both raw materials and fertilisers. According to the Commission, approximately 25–30% of nitrogen fertiliser consumption, 35–45% of potash consumption, and around 70% of phosphate fertiliser consumption in the EU is supplied through imports.
The production of nitrogen fertilisers is also closely linked to natural gas, which serves both as an energy source and a key feedstock. Geopolitical tensions, the war in Ukraine, and instability in the Middle East therefore have a direct impact on European farmers, fertiliser producers, and ultimately on food availability and prices.
The result has been significant price volatility. At the end of 2025, fertiliser costs across the European Union were still 62% higher than in 2020, before the previous price crisis. During 2026, prices for nitrogen-based products continued to rise.
It is precisely for this reason that the European Commission has introduced a new Action Plan aimed at increasing the resilience of the European market, strengthening domestic production capacity, and reducing dependence on external suppliers. Security of supply, industrial competitiveness, and environmental objectives are to be addressed together rather than separately.
One of the main objectives of the document is to strengthen the European Union’s strategic autonomy. This means not only preserving domestic production but also identifying new sources of nutrients within the European economy itself.
The Commission openly acknowledges that the future cannot rely solely on conventional mineral fertiliser production. Circular solutions, the use of secondary raw materials, the return of valuable substances back into the economy, and technologies enabling more efficient use of available resources are expected to play an increasingly important role.
The Circular Economy Enters Fertiliser Production
A significant part of the Action Plan focuses on making better use of resources that already exist within the European economy. The document emphasises that closing material loops can deliver cost savings, improve resource efficiency, reduce pollution, and enhance security of supply.
The Commission therefore intends to support technologies that enable fertiliser production within a circular economy framework, including through the utilisation of currently underused material streams. At the same time, it plans to remove regulatory barriers that often hinder the wider deployment of such solutions.
An equally important part of the strategy is support for technologies capable of creating additional value from materials previously regarded as waste. This is where fertiliser policy intersects with the broader concept of the circular economy, which the European Union is promoting across multiple industrial sectors.
Particularly interesting opportunities emerge from linking the circular economy with agriculture through the production and recycling of biopolymers. It is possible to establish a closed-loop system in which biomass serves as a feedstock for bioplastics production, these materials are subsequently depolymerised through molecular recycling back into virgin-quality monomers at the end of their life cycle, and the process simultaneously generates a nitrogen fertiliser. This fertiliser can then be reused in biomass cultivation. Such a model represents a practical example of a fully circular agricultural system and efficient resource utilisation.
Decarbonisation – An Industrial Opportunity
Another major focus is the reduction of the carbon intensity of production. Fertiliser manufacturing remains one of the most energy-intensive industrial sectors and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. The European Commission therefore intends to support technologies capable of producing fertilisers with a lower carbon footprint and reduced dependence on fossil resources.
The document explicitly supports investment in decarbonised production processes, the development of low-carbon products, the application of circular economy principles, and innovations that improve resource efficiency. This strategy is expected to be supported through both regulatory measures and financial instruments aimed at research, innovation, and industrial scale-up.
Among the most promising approaches are technologies capable of combining multiple production steps into a single process while maximising the utilisation of all material streams generated. Such an approach can contribute to lower energy consumption and reduced CO₂ emissions by eliminating the need for separate production operations and replacing a portion of primary fossil-based resources.
Circular Solutions Gain Momentum
RECIVONE’s technology is an example of this approach in practice. Its patented process combines the molecular recycling of PET plastics and polyester textiles with the production of a nitrogen fertiliser within a single technological step. In addition to producing virgin-quality TPA and MEG monomers, the process generates another valuable product without the need for a separate manufacturing operation. At the same time, it reduces energy consumption and CO₂ emissions by replacing two conventional industrial processes with one integrated solution and helping to reduce dependence on primary fossil resources.
The Action Plan presented in May 2026 is only the beginning. During the second half of this year, the European Commission is expected to introduce the first concrete measures aimed at supporting circular and low-carbon fertilisers, removing regulatory barriers, and facilitating the development of new production capacities. It is at this stage that it will become clear how quickly Europe’s strategy can evolve from political ambition into tangible support for innovative technologies and industrial projects.
By Lenka Linhartova, Co-founder of RECIVONE