Curbing Russia’s Fertilizer Imports – NPHarvest Recycles Nutrients from Wastewater
A few years ago, water researchers at Aalto University developed an innovation that gave birth to the startup NPHarvest(You are transferring to another service). The technology is now being commercialized across Europe.
CEO Juho Uzkurt Kaljunen and COO Sara Ikonen explain that the original goal was to capture nutrients to reduce climate emissions and nutrient leakage into waterways.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the ability to recover raw materials for fertilizer became increasingly significant. Despite sanctions, nitrogen fertilizers are still imported to Europe from Russia. Kaljunen cites trade statistics showing that these imports have actually increased during the war. Likewise, the import of natural gas – used in fertilizer production – has not been fully halted.
With NPHarvest’s membrane technology, no natural gas is needed in the fertilizer manufacturing process.
“We never set out to market a technology that could produce fertilizer without natural gas,” Kaljunen notes. “But the war changed everything – and gave our innovation a new, meaningful purpose.”
EU Doubles Tariffs on Fertilizer Imports from Russia
Recent EU decisions further increase the importance of NPHarvest’s solution. Tariffs on fertilizers imported from Russia and Belarus will be doubled by 2028.
According to the EU, Russia is financing its war through fertilizer trade revenues.
The war changed everything – and gave our innovation a new, meaningful purpose.
While Finland no longer imports Russian natural gas or LNG, the situation elsewhere in Europe is different. The EU’s long-term goal is to end Russian imports altogether.
It’s no exaggeration to say that NPHarvest’s innovation addresses a critical and growing need.
Demonstration Unit Deployed for Customer Testing
NPHarvest’s process first precipitates phosphorus from wastewater, after which its membrane technology recovers nitrogen.
The membrane structure can be adapted to various applications. The invention has already been piloted using separately collected restaurant urine, at a wastewater treatment plant in Sweden, and on a farm in the Netherlands.
Kaljunen acknowledges that scaling up a new technology takes time. Still, the potential is enormous: if Europe could recover nutrients from its waste streams, it would no longer need fertilizer imports from Russia.
Even today, over one-fifth of nitrogen fertilizer used in the EU originates from Russia.
In August, NPHarvest announced promising pilot results from a biogas plant in Turkey using its industrial demonstration unit. Interest is growing elsewhere, too.
Equipment the size of three shipping containers
In practice, adopting NPHarvest’s technology begins with the company delivering a demonstration system to the customer site, where it is tested for three to six months to see how the membrane performs with that client’s wastewater.
“A full-scale solution is then negotiated based on the results,” Kaljunen explains.
Testing with demonstration equipment is no small matter—the system takes up about three shipping containers’ worth of space.
In autumn 2025, NPHarvest showcased its production setup, membrane samples, and final products—phosphorus and nitrogen—at an Aalto University exhibition.
Critical Milestone Passed
Kaljunen and Ikonen believe NPHarvest has passed the critical startup phase, having validated its technology industrially and begun scaling up.
“We are now commercializing our innovation and selling systems,” Kaljunen says.
To support scaling, NPHarvest has received funding from Finland’s Ministry of the Environment and private investors such as Nordic Foodtech VC(You are transferring to another service). A new funding round is currently underway, aiming to attract additional private investors.
New innovations from the Viikki Food Design Factory
The University of Helsinki’s Viikki Food Design Factory(You are transferring to another service) brings together food and innovation experts to accelerate sustainable solutions in food production, processing, distribution, and consumption.
A total of 11 startups from seven countries were selected for the latest accelerator programme, including NPHarvest.
According to the University, all eleven startups share the same mission: transforming the linear food system into a circular one.
These companies are tackling critical challenges by reducing waste, optimizing natural resource use, and building sustainable, closed-loop food systems.
“For NPHarvest, this program has been a fantastic opportunity to network with other startups and corporations in the same value chain,” says Ikonen. “At the same time, we’ve gained valuable visibility at the EU level.”
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