With National Support, Facilities Recovering Reclaimed Phosphorus from Sewage Sludge Expand—A Turning Point for Agriculture Moving Toward Domestically Produced Fertilizer

In April 2026, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism made clear a policy to strengthen support as a nation toward expanding facilities that recover “recycled phosphorus” from sewage sludge. To rebuild the stable-supply system for fertilizer raw materials, which was shaken in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the move to use sewage-treatment plants—existing infrastructure—as a “domestic phosphorus source” is getting into full swing.

Why “recycled phosphorus” now—the reality of the phosphorus import crisis

Japanese agriculture relies on imports for almost all of its phosphorus. The main procurement source is China (about 90%), and from late 2021 onward, the tightening of China’s export inspections and supply anxiety from the Russia-Ukraine situation overlapped, causing domestic fertilizer prices to surge.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ “Food Security Strengthening Policy Framework” (decided December 2022) set the goal of “expanding the utilization ratio of domestic resources in fertilizer use (phosphorus basis) to 40% by 2030.” One of the means holding the key to achievement is the recovery of recycled phosphorus from sewage sludge.

At domestic sewage-treatment plants, about 2.3 million tons of sludge are generated annually, containing about 50,000 tons of phosphorus. This has the potential to cover a considerable amount of the fertilizer phosphorus consumed by domestic agriculture. However, as things stand, the municipalities working on phosphorus recovery number only 5 nationwide (6 treatment plants), and the high cost of facility development has been a wall to adoption.

The technical mechanism—extracting phosphorus from sludge with the MAP method

The main technology for recovering phosphorus from sewage sludge is the “MAP method (magnesium ammonium phosphate method).” It is a mechanism where, by adding magnesium to the sludge, phosphorus is crystallized and recovered as magnesium ammonium phosphate (MAP). The recovered “recycled phosphorus,” after fertilizer registration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, can be distributed as an agricultural fertilizer raw material.

Yokohama City, using B-DASH (the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Breakthrough by Dynamic Approach in Sewage High Technology Project), has worked on demonstrating a phosphorus-recovery facility jointly with Tsukishima JFE Aqua Solution. That project, adopted in February 2023, saw its demonstration facility completed in March 2026, and experimental recycled-phosphorus recovery has begun.

In Fukuoka City, JA Zen-Noh Fukuren uses the recovered recycled phosphorus in the fertilizer product “Fukumap neo.” When a spinach farmer in Kurume City tried it, they reported that “the weight per plant increased by 10%, and the vividness of the color also improved,” confirming an effect on crops as well.

What changes with national support—a breakthrough for the facility-cost problem

The core of this strengthening of national support is lowering the hurdle of facility-development costs. Until now, for a municipality to install a phosphorus-recovery facility on its own required a large initial investment, and in many cases the cost-effectiveness didn’t add up. By developing and expanding a subsidy scheme, the nation aims to push forward the transition to phosphorus-recovery facilities from the roughly 1,000 facilities working on fertilizer use, out of the more than 1,000 sewage-treatment plants nationwide.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries launched the “Project to Expand the Use of Domestic Fertilizer Resources” in February 2023 and established a nationwide promotion council. It has advanced the adoption of fertilizers derived from domestic resources such as sewage sludge and livestock compost, and this facility-expansion support can be said to accelerate that effort one notch.

Implications from an agriculture and SDGs perspective—circular agriculture that turns “waste” into “resources”

The expansion of recycled phosphorus is not limited to merely domesticating fertilizer. Sewage sludge has conventionally been treated as waste that incurs cost burdens. By having it evaluated as an agricultural resource, a structure is born in which urban infrastructure and agriculture are connected in a loop of resource circulation.

From an SDGs perspective too, the significance is great. Goal 12 “Responsible Consumption and Production,” Goal 2 “Zero Hunger,” Goal 6 “Clean Water and Sanitation”—the recycled-phosphorus effort is a solution that spans these multiple goals. Having urban sewage treatment and agricultural production function as a single supply chain is nothing other than a concrete example of a local circular economy.

On the other hand, there are also challenges. Sludge may contain heavy metals, and for safe application to farmland, developing a component-management and quality-assurance system is essential. Also, promoting understanding on the farmer side (the psychological hurdle of it being sewage-derived) and establishing stable distribution routes will continue to be necessary.

It is also worth attention in the context of using food loss and agricultural waste. Like the composting of agricultural residues and food waste, the re-resourcing of sewage sludge can be a first step toward a sustainable production system aiming for “zero agricultural waste.” As related efforts, movements toward food-loss reduction and agricultural sustainability are also spreading (The current state and challenges of food loss、The intersection of food loss and SDGs × agriculture）。

Points that farmers and agricultural stakeholders should note

Future outlook—toward the 2030 “40% domestication” goal

Achieving the government’s goal of “a 40% domestic-resource utilization ratio for phosphorus-type fertilizer by 2030” requires a major expansion from the current 5 municipalities to nationwide. This strengthening of national support is a groundwork for that, and it is seen as entering a phase where the number of installing municipalities doubles or multiplies several-fold over the next few years.

For agricultural producers, an era where “the regional sewage-treatment plant makes their fertilizer” becomes reality. Amid growing interest in sustainable agriculture and organic agriculture, recycled phosphorus can become one of its symbolic materials. We want to keep watching the course of this effort, which simultaneously achieves domestic food security and reduced environmental burden.

Please also refer to related information on the trends in vegetable prices and agricultural-supply costs (MAFF-announced vegetable price trends for April 2026）。

References and sources

• Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism “Fertilizer use of sewage sludge resources”
• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “Making fertilizer derived from domestic resources without relying on imported materials”
• Japan Agricultural News “Toward stable supply of recycled phosphorus: recovered from sewage sludge, facilities expanded with national support” (April 12, 2026)