Report Addresses The State Of The Fertilizer Industry

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) has announced the release of its 2018 State of the Fertilizer Industry report.

The report, which documents industry stewardship and sustainability quantifies fertilizer manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers’ performance record on environmental, economic and social indicators. The report also documents the fertilizer industry’s contribution to meeting the following United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: zero hunger; clean water and sanitation; affordable and clean energy; industry innovation and infrastructure, and climate action.

“Fertilizers make a tremendous contribution to mankind and ensuring that they are produced and used with care for communities, their economies, and the environment is of the utmost importance to TFI members, ” said TFI President & CEO Chris Jahn. “The data contained in this report is proof positive of the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement.”

2018 Report highlights include:

On worker safety, the fertilizer industry continues to outperform its industry peers in the manufacturing and wholesale/blending sectors. Across the board, the fertilizer industry is more than two times as safe as its peers in the chemical sector.

U.S. nitrogen producers’ water usage on a per-ton basis has decreased each year since reporting began in 2013. The amount of water used to produce one ton of nitrogen fertilizer is down 7 percent from 2016 to 2017 and down 42 percent since 2013.

Report participants recycled 516 billion gallons of water in 2017. This is equivalent to the amount of water used annually by more than 5 million U.S. households combined.

In 2017, the industry captured and re-used 7.5 million metric tons of CO2 – which is 24 percent of all GHGs emitted annually by the industry.

In 2017, participating companies captured 101.8 million GJ of waste heat. This is equivalent to 51 percent of the total energy use reported by all participating fertilizer producers.

In 2017, TFI members contributed $1.1 million to the North American 4R Research Fund, which has awarded more than $5.9 million in research in the United States and Canada to better understand the impacts of 4R practice implementation. In 2017, the industry jointly funded a $2 million, multi-state 4R research effort with the Foundation for Food and Agronomic Research.

The 2018 State of the Fertilizer Industry report includes data from 28 companies. Twelve of these companies manufacture fertilizer and account for 84 percent of total nitrogen and 100 percent of total phosphate production capacity in the United States. This report gathers data across the entire value chain, with an additional 16 participating companies serving as retailers, wholesalers, and distribution companies.

“Half of all food grown around the world today is made possible by commercial fertilizer,” said Jahn. As demand continues to grow, we are committed to ensuring that our products are produced, stored and used in a sustainable way.”