State of the Fertilizer Industry Report Highlights Industry Sustainable Growth
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2018 – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today released its 2017 State of the Fertilizer Industry report. The report, which is a major component of TFI’s stewardship and sustainability programs, 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.
“The fertilizer industry is essential to helping growers feed a more prosperous world,” said TFI President, Chris Jahn. “Our 2017 State of the Fertilizer Industry report demonstrates our parallel commitment to safe colleagues and neighbors, a strong economy, and environmental conservation and protection.”
2017 Report highlights include:
- The fertilizer industry is two times as safe as peer industries. In 2016, the industry’s lost time incident rate dropped to 0.8 cases per 100 full-time equivalent employees. Companies provided more than 2,800 hours of local emergency responder training to protect employees and surrounding communities.
- The fertilizer industry invested nearly $1 million in 4R Nutrient Stewardship research to strengthen fertilizer best management practices and seek solutions that reduce nutrient loss to the environment.
On average, reporting companies:
- Captured and reused 25% of GHG emissions, a savings equivalent to taking nearly 2 million cars off the road for an entire year.
- Invested $4.3 billion to advance innovation, improve infrastructure, and enhance the sustainable production of fertilizer.
- Reclaimed 1.4 billion gallons of water and recycled another 461.9 billion gallons of treated wastewater. Water usage per ton of fertilizer has decreased every year since reporting began in 2013.
- Captured 111 million GJ of waste heat to generate onsite energy or return energy to the grid, enough energy to have powered 216,635 homes for an entire year.
- Invested in new railcars and shipped 19.8 million tons safely and efficiently by rail. Moving fertilizer by rail instead of truck reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 75%.
In 2017, 33 TFI member companies voluntarily contributed data for the State of the Fertilizer Industry report, representing the entire fertilizer value chain and accounting for 94 percent of U.S. nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium production capacity and 33 percent of the retail sector in the United States. The data represents products produced in, imported to, or transported in 2016. For ease of use, the report features an appendix of data from TFI’s 2015 and 2016 State of the Industry reports.
“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.”
To learn more about the 2017 State of the Fertilizer Industry report, visit tfi.org/stateoftheindustry.
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The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) is the leading voice of the nation’s fertilizer industry. Tracing its roots back to 1883, TFI’s membership includes fertilizer producers, wholesalers, retailers, and trading firms. TFI’s full-time staff, based in Washington, D.C., serves its members through legislative, educational, technical, economic information and public communication programs. Find more information about TFI online at TFI.org and follow us on Twitter at @Fertilizer_Inst. Learn more about TFI’s nutrient stewardship initiatives at nutrientstewardship.org and on Twitter at @4rnutrients.