Arlington, VA – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today released new data highlighting industry improvement in sustainability performance in key priority areas of workforce safety, energy and the environment, fertilizer use, and industry innovation.
“The over 100,000 employees of the fertilizer industry work each day to produce and supply fertilizer to farmers in an effort to feed the world,” said TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch. “To feed a global population of 1 billion people by 2050, fertilizer is playing a critical role in increasing both food production and land use efficiency sustainability in agriculture.”
TFI has collected data since 2013 on metrics that provide insight into the industry’s efforts to improve safety, security, sustainability, environmental stewardship, and efficiency. The data announced today was gathered in 2023 and reflects industry operations in 2022.
“The industry is continuously working towards more sustainable operations, including efforts to decarbonize and mitigate environmental impacts,” Rosenbusch continued. “Each step of the supply chain is focused on doing more with fewer resources while limiting impacts on communities and the environment. The data in this report highlights the achievements we’ve made in worker safety, energy, and environmental metrics.”
Report highlights include:
- Participating members reported a total of 25 zero-discharge facilities, at which all wastewater is recycled.
- When compared to the Department of Labor’s data for similar companies in wholesale, mining, and manufacturing, our members outperform the industry benchmarks in every category.
- Farmers in the US have a nitrogen use efficiency of 70%, which is much higher in comparison to the world average of 55%. The 2023 4R Advocates had an average of 100% nitrogen use efficiency.
- TFI members are working towards decarbonizing manufacturing sites, including boosting energy efficiency, carbon capture and sequestration, investing in electrolysis technologies, and more. Low carbon ammonia technologies can increase the sustainability of fertilizers while ensuring agricultural productivity. TFI is developing a protocol to define carbon intensity for ammonia production in North America.
The data includes metrics on segments of the fertilizer industry from fertilizer use on the farm, worker safety, energy and environment, and industry innovation. To learn more about this year’s report, click here.
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