Policy recommendations for nutrient recycling in the Baltic Sea Region

The goal of the CiNURGi project is to cultivate a circular nutrient economy and support the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Regional Nutrient Recycling Strategy. To achieve this, CiNURGi will produce policy recommendations and support their uptake through HELCOM policy processes.

All the various tasks and experiments carried out in CiNURGi contribute to the policy recommendations the project aims to develop. For example, the work on market evaluation and the development of markets for nutrient recycling has helped CiNURGi to identify market barriers and policy gaps. The policy recommendations are based on data from the different experiments and on stakeholder feedback, making them research-based and partly co-created.

Currently, the CiNURGi draft policy recommendations are being presented to relevant stakeholders at workshops and events for discussion and revision to ensure their relevance to the target groups. Stakeholders were also approached with a questionnaire in 2025, which collected supporting data for the drafting process. This has allowed the collection of direct feedback from stakeholders, including HELCOM Expert and Working Groups, as well as wider promotion of the project’s achievements. CiNURGi also provides regular updates and concrete proposals to HELCOM Working Group Source to Sea, which serves as a formal platform for discussing agri-environmental policy measures and nutrient inputs from agriculture in a Baltic Sea protection context.

To ensure the uptake, institutional anchoring, and long-term durability of CiNURGi results, the project collaborates with HELCOM and its policy processes. By contributing to the Baltic Sea Action Plan implementation, CiNURGi results remain active within existing HELCOM structures as part of HELCOM. These products can be used in working group agendas and discussions, referenced in regional reporting and BSAP follow-up and available to national authorities as a shared regional reference.

The HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan includes a section dedicated to nutrient management, with clear actions to which CiNURGi aims to contribute. The current focus is on the following actions:

• E32: Enhance the use of recycled nutrients in agriculture making use of best available technologies and fertilize according to crop needs;
• E33: Develop by 2027 safety requirements for recycled fertilizer products and minimise the occurrence of harmful compounds in these products to comply with the requirements;
• E34: Increase the knowledge and promote education and advisory services on nutrient recycling;
• E35: Improve the conditions for the development of a market for recycled fertilizer products by setting incentives with the aim of making the use of such products equally attractive to farmers as the use of mineral fertilizers.

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