A bio-based fuel blending obligation was imposed on petrol retailers. A similar provision could be introduced to add recycled fertiliser to agricultural fertilisers.
Operation Unique Archipelago Sea wants saving the severely eutrophic Archipelago Sea to be part of the next government programme.
This was backed up by a fresh set of theses on the measures needed, presented at an Archipelago Sea Festival in Turku on Thursday evening.
When looking at the impact of different measures on water purification, recycled fertiliser comes out on top. Replacing chemical fertilisers with recycled fertilisers would reduce phosphorus discharges into the sea by an estimated 500 tonnes per year.
The amount of obligations could gradually increase when the market is ready for it.
Väänänen believes that the model works and that the price of recycled fertilizer will decrease as competition increases. Now recycled fertilizer is even more expensive than chemical fertilizer.
Move the manure and mow the fodder
Recycled fertilizer should be made from the manure of livestock farms in order to get the manure moving.
Now the livestock farms are located in the same regions and there is too much manure produced in those regions compared to the arable area.
Saving the Archipelago Sea from the nutrient load requires several measures.
In the recent program of measures, it is proposed to increase fishing and more efficient mowing of lake reed vegetation. With them, the nutrients that ended up in the sea can be recovered.
In addition, the growth condition of the fields must be improved and fertilization optimized on a block-by-block basis. There should also be more crop rotation and plant cover in the fields.
The use of structural lime, gypsum and other nutrient-retaining substances is still recommended.