Farmer refuses Gasum fertilizer due to plastic contamination in Northern Ostrobothnia

A farmer in Northern Ostrobothnia has refused to spread fertilizer produced by the state-owned Gasum on his fields due to a significant amount of plastic found within it. The plastic was discovered when the farm received liquid digestate from Gasum’s biogas plant in Oulu earlier this spring. An overflow incident caused several cubic meters of digestate to spill onto the land, and as it dried, visible plastic debris emerged, halting the fertilization plans.

According to Gasum, the amount of plastic in the fertilizer is far below legal limits. Juhani Viljakainen, an expert in recycling nutrients at Gasum, stated that 5,000 cubic meters of digestate were delivered, which would contain approximately 1,200 to 1,300 kilograms of plastic if it were at legal levels. Gasum’s digestate complies with the limits established by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The regulation allows for a maximum of five grams of impurities per kilogram of dry matter, with only larger particles (over two millimeters) counted. Impurities include plastic, glass, and metal, with restrictions on each type. Gasum reports that the dry matter content of their liquid digestate is between 5-6% of the total weight. For example, if 20 tons of liquid digestate is spread per hectare, it would contain around 1,200 kilograms of dry matter. Therefore, the allowable amount of plastic would be six kilograms per hectare, potentially permitting up to 600 kilograms of plastic on a hundred-hectare farm.

Gasum supplies around 260,000 tons of similar fertilizers nationwide and claims that impurities in their products account for at most 40% of the allowed levels. The farmer indicated that he will not apply the fertilizer until the plastic is removed or the product is retrieved. Gasum acknowledged that this situation appears exceptional and reports having offered to remove the plastic.