Lexique
A
Manufactured from the liquid fraction of the digestate from our Emeraude Bio Energie Methanizer, ammonium sulfate is a liquid fertilizer base rich in nitrogen and sulfur, which can be used directly as a fertilizer or blended with other elements. Ammonium sulfate is the main component of our Fertiflow range of liquid fertilizers.
B
Large flexible storage bag containing our granulated fertilizers, 500Kg or 1000Kg
Biostimulants stimulate the plant nutrition process independently of the nutrients they contain, with the sole aim of improving nutrient utilization efficiency, abiotic stress tolerance, fruit quality or the availability of nutrients confined in the soil and rhizosphere.
C
Based in Lamballe, France, Cooperl is a pig farming and agri-food cooperative with nearly 7,700 employees and 2,950 members.
Fertival is a subsidiary of the Cooperl Environnement branch, which valorizes co-products from the pork industry by manufacturing natural fertilizers. The cooperative works every day to enable farmers to make a living from their trade, to create jobs locally and to feed people while respecting the planet.
In a cooperative, farmers join forces to sell their produce and buy what they need. The cooperative collects, processes and markets its members’ production, and provides them with shared products and services (technical advice, management, etc.).
The profits generated are partly placed in reserve to finance the cooperative’s projects and guarantee its continuity from generation to generation, and partly redistributed to members and employees. This is a principle of economic solidarity.
Co-products are waste products from the fifth quarter of the pig (bones, viscera, blood, nails, hair, intestines) that cannot be consumed by humans, and which are recycled by Cooperl Environnement as natural fertilizers.
Circular ecology is Cooperl Environnement’s vision.
Here, we’re no longer talking about the circular economy, but circular ecology. Ecology in the sense of limiting our impact on the local environment and maximizing the processing of all by-products generated by our business. Ecology in the sense of making the most of renewable resources produced nearby.
Logical, in the sense of setting up our new facilities as close as possible to resource production.
Logical, in the sense of duplicating our knowledge and know-how wherever optimization is possible.
A kind of ecology in 4 dimensions.”
It’s a virtuous loop whose aim is to produce goods and services in a sustainable way, while limiting consumption and waste: of raw materials, non-renewable energy sources and waste production.
In particular, this model emphasizes new ways of designing, producing and consuming, extending the useful life of products, and reusing and recycling components.
D
Digestate is the organic matter produced by a methanizer after biogas production. The particularity of the digestate from the Cooperl methanizer is to be dried and then valorized in the form of natural organic fertilizer, thus meeting the nutritional needs of specialized crops.
What’s more, the composition of the digestate remains constant, as the raw materials used come exclusively from the by-products of buildings equipped with TRAC and industrial water.
F
Fertilizers are products used in agriculture to provide specific nutrients for optimal plant development or to improve soil properties.
Fertilizers fall into several families: organic, micro-dosed, organo-mineral, soil improvers…
Created in 1993, Fertival is a brand of natural fertilizers formulated using organic matter produced on Cooperl members’ farms.
Present in France and abroad, the Fertival range meets the specific needs of the viticulture, arboriculture, market gardening, field crops, tropical crops and green spaces markets.
Thanks to the high environmental technology developed by our cooperative, Fertival production is part of a circular economy model using renewable energies.
G
Granulation is the process of compacting raw materials in powder form to produce a dense, cylindrical product using pelletizing presses, known as a pellet.
H
Process consisting of heating our raw organic materials to a temperature of 70°C for 1 hour in order to eliminate all pathogens, while preserving their agronomic properties.
L
Liquid forms of organic fertilizers derived from plant or animal matter, they provide essential nutrients for plant development, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Fertival uses ammonium sulfate from the Bio Énergie methaniseur in Lamballe, Europe’s largest methaniseur without land application, to formulate its Fertiflow range of liquid fertilizers.
M
Inaugurated by Cooperl in 2019, the Lamballe Bio Energie methanizer is fed by TRAC organic matter from Cooperl members, water and sediment from the pre-treatment of wastewater from our meat industry. This innovation, developed by the cooperative, enables the solid phase to be separated from the liquid phase of animal waste under the pigs’ slatted floors, thus contributing to the well-being of the animals and the comfort of employees. This process also preserves the high methanogenic power of TRAC material: 5 times higher than organic matter from treatment plants.
The Emeraude Bio Energie methanizer generates several sustainable resources:
– Biogas: production of methane injected directly into Lamballe’s GRDF network, which covers 75% of the agglomeration’s consumption. This substitution of fossil gas by gas of renewable origin corresponds to the equivalent of 26,183 tonnes of CO2 avoided.
– Ammonium sulfate: production of ammonium sulfate using the stripping process, an alternative to ammonitrate from the petrochemical industry, used in Fertival’s Fertiflow range of liquid fertilizers.
– Orgatrac: capture of digestate used in the formulation of Fertival natural fertilizers
No agricultural land is monopolized for energy production, and no pressure is exerted on agricultural land.
Microdosed fertilizers are organic fertilizers containing low doses of trace elements such as iron. They meet very specific crop needs.
O
Orgatrac comes from digestate from the Emeraude Bio Energie methanizer in Lamballe, once dried. Created by Cooperl in 2019, this is Europe’s largest non-spreading methanizer fed by organic matter collected by a robotized tool installed in livestock buildings, called the TRAC.
An organic soil improver improves the structure and physico-chemical properties of the soil, limiting compaction and erosion, for example. The amendment optimizes the availability of plant nutrients by promoting soil microbial life.
Organic fertilizers are formulated from the by-products of animal and plant production.
Their main role is to provide essential nutrients for plant development, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
Organo-mineral fertilizers combine organic and mineral fertilizing materials. These fertilizers must contain a minimum of 1% organic nitrogen in their final composition.
The organic matter used in the formulation of natural fertilizers corresponds to the natural manure produced by the pigs of our Cooperl members. These materials are collected and stored either at processing stations or by TRAC robots.
N
Nitrogen is a chemical element with the symbol N, and is essential for optimal plant development. It constitutes amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids and numerous vitamins, playing a decisive role in production yield and quality.
The nitrogen in Fertival products comes from organic matter collected from the cooperative’s pig farms.
P
Potassium is a chemical element with the symbol K. It activates various enzymes involved in chlorophyll assimilation and stomatal opening.
It enables mineral salts to circulate in plant tissues, maintaining osmotic pressure and ionic balance within cells.
Name given to organic fertilizers in granular form for their cylindrical shape, around 3 cm long.
R
Energy derived from natural processes that are constantly being renewed. These renewable energy sources are value-creating solutions, thanks to the production of bioenergies such as biogas, biomass, biofuel and water recycling.
Nicknamed “clean energies” or “green energies”, their exploitation generates very little waste and polluting emissions, and relieves pressure on the consumption of common resources (public water and energy networks).
S
It is based on the three pillars of sustainable development: ecological, social and economic.
Sustainable agriculture must feed the population and develop the economy, while limiting its impact on the environment. To achieve this, it must be based as much as possible on a circular system, enabling resources to be maintained, regenerated and even improved. It does not harm people or living beings.
Sustainable agriculture limits the use of pesticides that can harm the health of farmers and consumers, and aims to protect biodiversity. Making agriculture sustainable means, above all, enabling farmers to make a living from their work and ensure the long-term future of their farms. It also means pursuing current economic development, without compromising resources and the quality of the environment for future generations.
T
The Trac is a new breeding technology created by Cooperl Equipement. This organic matter recovery system enables phase separation (solid/liquid) directly under the pigs’ slatted floors. The methanogenic power of the material is thus 5 times greater than traditional slurry. The TRAC material feeds our methanizer and is used as a raw material in the formulation of Fertival natural fertilizers.
Excess organic matter from livestock farming is collected in Dénitral treatment plants (66 plants present on livestock farms) to comply with the Nitrate Directive for livestock farming.
Dénitral plants operate in the same way as municipal effluent treatment plants: a bacteriological reaction takes place, with bacteria digesting the organic matter and releasing sediments. A phase separation takes place between the liquid part and the solid part (organic matter). The liquid part is used on the farm to irrigate the land. The solid part is collected by Fertival, then dried at the Lamballe recycling center (the volume of water is reduced by a factor of 4, from 88% to 5%). The concentrated, hygienized material is then sent to Fertival and used to formulate organic fertilizers and soil improvers.
V
Vigalor is the historic raw material from pig organic matter collection and biological treatment plants.
