The phosphorus consultation is now available online

The Commission’s stakeholder consultation on the sustainable use of phosphorus closed on 31 December 2013 and received 125 replies from a wide range of stakeholders.

The summary of the 125 responses has been published as a Commission Staff Working Document (SWD(2014)263) on 1 August 2014.

Some respondents questioned whether technologies such as flocculation with iron coagulants are sustainable, arguing that they do not deliver the best product in terms of potential re-use in agriculture. Others (notably the iron coagulants industry) listed a number of advantages of this technology, not least its effectiveness (as compared with other technologies) in removing phosphorus from water.

The European Commission concluded that no legislation proposal is foreseen, and a need for action was identified in relation to various policies and stages of the cycle.

Read the full Commission Staff Working Document here.