The report is a major component of the institute’s stewardship and sustainability programs. It quantifies fertilizer manufacturers’, wholesalers’ and retailers’ performance record on environmental, economic and social indicator. In addition to this, the report also documents the 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 President of TFI, Chris Jahn, said: “The fertilizer industry is essential to helping growers feed a more prosperous world.
“Our 2017 State of the Fertilizer Industry report demonstrates our parallel commitment to safe colleagues and neighbours, a strong economy, and environmental conservation and protection.”
Highlights from the 2017 report include the following:
- The fertilizer industry is twice as safe as peer industries. In 2016, the industry’s lost time incident rate fell to 0.8 cases per 100 full-time equivalent employees. Companies provided over 2800 hr of local emergency responder training to protect both employees and surrounding communities.
- The fertilizer industry invested almost US$1 million in 4R Nutrient Stewardship research to strengthen fertilizer best management practices and to seek solutions that decrease nutrient loss to environment.
On average, TFI claims that reporting companies:
- Captured and reused 25% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is the equivalent of removing almost 2 million cars off the road for a whole year.
- Invested US$4.3 billion to help progress innovation, improve infrastructure and enhance the sustainable production of fertilizer.
- Reclaimed 1.4 billion gal. of water and recycled an additional 461.9 billion gal. of treated wastewater. Water usage per tonne of fertilizer has decreased each year since reporting commenced in 2013.
- Captured 111 million GJ of waste heat to generate energy on site, or to return energy to the grid. According to TFI, this is enough energy to have powered 216 635 homes for a whole year.
- Invested in new railcars and safely and efficiently shipped 19.8 million t by rail. According to TFI, utilising rail instead of trucks for the transportation of fertilizer decreases GHG emissions by 75%.
Las year, 33 member companies of TFI voluntarily provided data for the State of the Fertilizer Industry report. The combined data represented the entire fertilizer value chain and accounted for 94% of US nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium production capacity, as well as 33% of the retail sector in the US. The data represents products produced in, imported to, or transported in 2016. The report also features an appendix of data from TFI’s State of the Industry reports from 2015 and 2016.
Jahn added: “Half of all food grown around the world today is made possible by commercial fertilizer.
“As demand continues to grow, we are committed to ensuring that our products are produced, stored and used in a sustainable way.”