Digestate treatment – RENURE

From livestock waste to next-generation fertilizers through digestate treatment

Digestate management and treatment are among the key challenges for the future of agriculture, energy, and environmental sustainability. In this context, the European recognition of RENURE fertilizers (Recovered Nitrogen from Manure) represents a major step toward more circular and sustainable models, reducing dependence on chemical fertilizers.

Lambda is the innovative and patented solution developed by IDRO Group for digestate treatment and nitrogen recovery from liquid digestate. It is designed to transform a by-product into a valuable resource, delivering tangible environmental, agronomic, and economic benefits.

Digestate treatment systems: a technology that turns digestate into value

Lambda has been developed to meet the needs of farms and biogas and biomethane plants in managing digestate within an increasingly strict regulatory framework, especially in nitrate-vulnerable zones.

The system enables nitrogen recovery and its conversion into ammonium sulfate, which can be used directly as a fertilizer or supplied to the chemical industry for further processing. This improves the efficiency of digestate treatment, while reducing environmental impact and CO₂eq emissions.

Thanks to a reliable and robust process, Lambda digestate treatment systems allow to:

• reduce ammonia concentration by up to 80%
• decrease land spreading requirements by at least 30%
• recover nitrogen in the form of nitrogen fertilizer such as ammonium sulfate, recognized within the RENURE framework

Benefits of digestate treatment with Lambda technology

The Lambda system optimizes digestate management across the entire value chain:

• Reduced land spreading requirements
  Ammonia nitrogen removal significantly reduces the agricultural area required for digestate application.
• Digestate valorization
  Nitrogen recovery enables its reuse as a nutrient within the RENURE fertilizer supply chain.
• Reduced reliance on chemical fertilizers
  The system supports a more sustainable agricultural model by limiting the use of synthetic fertilizers and related raw materials.
• Lower environmental impact
  Reduced nitrogen content and shorter spreading distances result in a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂eq).

Performance of digestate treatment systems

Lambda delivers measurable results throughout the digestate treatment process:

• ammonia concentration reduction up to 80%
• land spreading reduction up to 30–50%
• ammonium sulfate production up to 75 kg per ton of digestate

These results improve agronomic management, enhance overall plant efficiency, and support nitrogen recovery as a ready-to-use RENURE fertilizer.

A practical solution for the future of digestate management

Digestate management is set to become increasingly strategic in the coming years. Lambda provides a concrete solution for farms and biogas plants looking to address this challenge with an efficient and sustainable technology.

With Lambda, technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and economic value creation converge in a single solution, supporting the agricultural and energy sectors in transitioning toward a more advanced circular model.