Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Report Scope & Overview:

The Digestate-based Fertilizer Market was valued at USD 380.86 Million in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 663.30 Million by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 5.71% from 2026 to 2035.

The Digestate-based Fertilizer Market is gaining momentum as biogas operators, farmers and policymakers increasingly regard digestate as a valuable nutrient source rather than a waste stream. Anaerobic digestion plants across Europe, North America and Asia generate large volumes of nitrogen-, phosphorus- and potassium-rich material that can replace part of the mineral fertilizer applied to cropland. Volatile synthetic fertilizer prices, circular economy targets and landfill diversion rules strengthen the commercial case. Processing technologies such as separation, drying, pelletizing and ammonia stripping convert raw digestate into transportable, standardized products. Together, these developments are shifting digestate from a local disposal issue toward a traded, branded fertilizer category with growing buyer acceptance.

⮞In May 2026, the European Biogas Association published Digestate in Europe: State of Play in 2026, estimating that 25 million tonnes of digestate dry matter produced in 2024 could replace over 16% of mineral nitrogen use in European agriculture. The report coincided with the Commission’s Fertiliser Action Plan, which proposes extending RENURE criteria to digestate.

U.S. Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Outlook

The U.S. Digestate-based Fertilizer Market was valued at USD 69.99 Million in 2025 and is projected to reach USD 114.03 Million by 2035, registering a CAGR of 5.00% from 2026 to 2035.

The U.S. Digestate-based Fertilizer Market is expanding owing to the growth of dairy, swine and food-waste digesters supported by federal and state renewable fuel incentives, including the Renewable Fuel Standard and California’s low-carbon fuel credits. Livestock regions in the Midwest, Northeast and California generate large volumes of manure that digesters convert into biogas and nutrient-rich residues. State organics diversion laws in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York and California are also increasing the supply of food-waste feedstock. Fertilizer prices that remain high compared with historic levels encourage growers to consider recovered nutrients, and processing developers are investing in dewatering and ammonia recovery to create marketable, OMRI-listed products.

⮞In July 2025, Bion Environmental Technologies secured a third offtake commitment for its OMRI-listed 10-0-0 liquid ammonium bicarbonate nitrogen fertilizer, covering 100,000 gallons at USD 7.00 per pound of nitrogen. The product is recovered from ammonia released during biogas generation from manure, and cumulative commitments now reach 250,000 gallons.

By Form, Liquid Digestate dominates, and Solid Digestate grows fastest

The Liquid Digestate segment occupied the maximum market share of the Digestate-based Fertilizer Market in 2025, owing to its direct application in farming using tanks, injectors, and irrigation methods. It offers easily absorbable nutrients like ammonia nitrogen and potassium, which are useful in crops such as cereals and grasslands within short distances without high processing expenses.

It is anticipated that the Solid Digestate will grow at the fastest rate during 2035, due to investments in the technology for its separation, drying, and pelleting. The higher phosphorous and organic content of the solid digestate, along with better transportation properties and nutrient composition, are driving its application in fertilizers, horticulture, and agriculture far away from farms.

⮞In July 2026, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) updated its Boost Nordic Biogas research initiative, outlining three-year field trials of pelletized and dewatered digestate fertilizers alongside raw digestate to evaluate their agricultural performance, nutrient value and potential for wider commercial use.

By Source, Agricultural Waste dominates, and Organic Municipal Waste grows fastest

Agricultural waste has been the dominant type in the Digestate-based Fertilizer market as of 2025 due to the use of manure, agricultural residues, and energy crops as feedstock in farm-level and centralized biogas plants. Livestock-intensive areas ensure a consistent supply, and the output has nutrients which are consistent and help to sustain a closed nutrient cycle and reduce dependency on chemical fertilizers.

Among all the waste sources, organic municipal waste is growing at the highest rate. Separate collection of food waste and green waste in addition to diverting it from landfills ensures high growth. The digestate can be used in farming once it is certified. Improved sorting and depackaging ensure lower contamination. Gate fees along with fertilizer sales add economic value to the market.

⮞In April 2026, SUEZ launched its Digelis FoodWaste technology in France, introducing a biowaste pretreatment solution that improves anaerobic digestion efficiency, increases biogas generation by up to 5%, and produces more concentrated digestate with enhanced agronomic quality.

By Product Type, Direct Fertilizers dominate, and Processed Fertilizers grow fastest

Direct digestate-based fertilizers were leading in the year 2025, which include raw or slightly processed material directly being added to the field from the digester with minimal processing involved. Such a fertilizer is cost-effective, ensures nutrient preservation, and promotes the concept of circular farming. There are clear rules for land application and reduced costs that promote its usage, especially in small-scale biogas units.

The growth rate of processed digestate-based fertilizers is the highest because there is a need for valuable fertilizers that can be marketed even outside agricultural zones. Ammonia stripping, membrane concentration, struvite precipitation, and drying techniques are some examples of technologies used to manufacture valuable fertilizers.

⮞In April 2026, Fraunhofer IGB presented pilot-scale nutrient recovery processes that convert digestate and liquid manure into directly usable nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers, alongside organic soil conditioners, demonstrating opportunities for producing higher-value agricultural inputs from processed digestate.

By Crop Type, Cereals & Grains dominate, and Fruits & Vegetables grow fastest

The cereals and grains sector is the biggest contributor to the market for Fertilizers based on Digestate in 2025, owing to large-scale cultivation of wheat, maize, barley, and rice crops, which respond well to nutrients provided by the digestate. Usage of digestate reduces dependence on mineral fertilizers, and efficient application techniques ensure higher nutrient absorption.

The fruits and vegetables segment is the most rapidly developing one due to growing need for certification and sustainability of nutrient sources for high-value and organic horticulture. The processed/pelletized products provide standardized nutrient content for orchards, vegetable crops, and greenhouses, while sustainability considerations on the part of retailers and branded food companies encourage digestate usage.

⮞In February 2026, Japan's National Agriculture and Food Research Organization published research demonstrating hydroponic tomato cultivation using microbially processed methane-fermentation digestate, establishing its potential as an alternative nutrient source for controlled-environment vegetable production.

Regional Analysis

North America Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Insights

North America accounted for approximately 21.73% of the Digestate-based Fertilizer Market in 2025, the third-largest regional share, with growth tied to dairy, swine and food-waste digesters built to capture renewable natural gas credits. The United States generates the substantial majority of regional revenue, led by projects in California, the Midwest and the Northeast, where operators such as Vanguard Renewables and Bion Environmental Technologies are developing nutrient recovery and organic fertilizer offtake. Private equity interest in organics diversion businesses that feed digesters is also rising, strengthening feedstock supply. Growing demand for OMRI-listed nitrogen from organic growers supports premium prices and long-term offtake contracts.

Canada contributes a smaller but growing share, with Ontario, Quebec and Alberta supporting agricultural and food-waste digesters through renewable energy programs and provincial organics bans. Quebec’s landfill diversion targets and Ontario’s food and organic waste framework are directing more feedstock toward anaerobic digestion. Mexico represents a comparatively smaller but expanding market, as large pork and dairy operations install covered lagoons and digesters that supply biogas and fertilizer material. Regulation of nutrient application varies by state and province, and concerns over PFAS in biosolids are increasing scrutiny of feedstock sources, yet the overall policy direction favors recycled nutrients as farmers seek relief from high mineral fertilizer costs.

⮞In April 2026, Divert opened its Integrated Diversion & Energy Facility in Longview, Washington, introducing anaerobic digestion infrastructure capable of processing up to 100,000 tons of unsold food annually into renewable energy and nutrient-rich fertilizers for regional agricultural use.

Europe Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Insights

Europe accounted for approximately 46.38% of the Digestate-based Fertilizer Market in 2025, the largest share among all regions, supported by the world’s densest network of biogas plants and strong policy backing for nutrient recycling. Germany leads with thousands of agricultural digesters, while Italy, France, Denmark and the United Kingdom operate large farm and food-waste facilities. Livestock manure supplies most of the feedstock, so digestate is closely tied to dairy and pig farming regions. National nutrient rules and rising mineral fertilizer costs are expected to accelerate substitution of synthetic nitrogen and raise the share of processed products sold commercially. The Commission’s planned extension of RENURE criteria to digestate adds further support.

Nordic and Baltic countries are building large biomethane plants that return recycled fertilizers to local farms, and Sweden and Denmark have among the most advanced systems for managing manure-based digestate. Poland is emerging as a growth market, where state-owned energy and food companies are planning biomethane portfolios that include farmland for digestate application. Italy and France are expanding agricultural biomethane, while Dutch processors export concentrated nutrients to arable regions under detailed quality standards. At the same time, nitrate and ammonia regulations restrict how much material can be spread in intensive livestock areas, which pushes operators toward drying, separation and nutrient export schemes that move surplus nutrients to arable regions.

⮞In April 2026, Finnish cleantech company NPHarvest launched a nutrient-recovery pilot at Biogas Westerbakum in Lower Saxony, Germany, designed to process approximately 20 cubic meters of liquid digestate daily and recover commercially valuable nitrogen and phosphorus.

Asia-Pacific Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Insights

Asia-Pacific is the second-fastest-growing region in the Digestate-based Fertilizer Market, projected to expand at a CAGR of 10.47% from 2026 to 2035, behind only Latin America, as governments promote rural biogas, livestock waste management and organic farming. China operates a large base of household and industrial digesters and is encouraging resource utilization of manure under its agricultural pollution control policies, while large pig and dairy farms are installing medium-scale plants. Biogas-based organic fertilizer is also used in tea, fruit and vegetable production, where buyers favor reduced chemical inputs. Provincial subsidies and demand for green agricultural products are widening the commercial use of solid and liquid digestate across eastern and southern provinces.

India is expanding compressed biogas under the SATAT and GOBAR-Dhan programs, which create substantial volumes of fermented organic manure that the government is promoting through market development assistance. Japan and South Korea support food waste digestion and use the resulting digestate in horticulture and soil improvement. Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines are developing biogas from livestock, cassava and palm oil effluent, and Australia is building agricultural digesters that supply nearby cropland. Rising fertilizer import bills and concerns over soil carbon loss are encouraging farmers to adopt recycled nutrients, and these combined measures are expected to keep the region’s growth ahead of the global average through 2035.

⮞In May 2025, researchers published a study in the Journal of Cleaner Production evaluating chicken-manure anaerobic digestion pathways in China, finding that converting digestate into fertilizer offered greater carbon-mitigation benefits than directly returning untreated digestate to agricultural fields.

MEA & South America Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Insights

The Middle East & Africa region represents a smaller but developing market, with biogas use concentrated in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tunisia, where small-scale digesters process livestock and agro-industrial waste. South Africa has several commercial plants linked to feedlots, breweries and food processors, and the resulting digestate is used on nearby farms. Kenya and Ethiopia promote household digesters under national biogas programs, creating fermented slurry that improves smallholder yields. In the Gulf states, municipal waste and dairy operations are exploring anaerobic digestion as part of sustainability plans, but arid climates and limited farmland restrict application. Funding gaps and technical capacity constraints remain barriers to broader commercialization across the region.

Latin America is the fastest-growing region in the Digestate-based Fertilizer Market, projected to expand at a CAGR of 11.04% from 2026 to 2035, with Brazil leading on the back of vast livestock herds, sugarcane vinasse and a national biomethane framework that encourages new plants. Digestate from swine and poultry operations in the southern states and from sugar-ethanol complexes is being applied to cropland as a substitute for imported potash and nitrogen. Argentina, Chile and Colombia are investing in agro-industrial digesters supported by renewable energy incentives, and Mexico’s large livestock sector adds feedstock. Heavy dependence on imported fertilizer makes farmers receptive to domestic nutrient sources, and rising environmental rules on animal waste are encouraging operators to treat and valorize digestate rather than store it in lagoons.

⮞In April 2026, Brazil's BNDES approved BRL 244.9 million in financing for Tropical Biogás, controlled by bp bioenergy, to develop a biomethane facility in Goiás using sugarcane vinasse, with the resulting digestate continuing to supply nutrients to agricultural fields.

Market Dynamics

Growth Drivers: Circular Nutrient Policy and Fertilizer Price Volatility

Market Growth in the Digestate-based Fertilizer Sector is mainly due to policies favoring nutrient recovery and biogas and biomethane production. The growing capacity for anaerobic digestion is producing more digestates while favorable policies are promoting their conversion into fertilizer products. Restrictions on nutrients surplus are also leading to the need for technologies that can recycle nitrogen and phosphorus effectively.

Price Volatility in Mineral Fertilizers is another significant driving force behind the industry’s growth, where fluctuations in energy prices and trade bans raise the cost of fertilizers to farmers. Digestates offer an easy solution with local sources of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium as well as the trend among food processors and distributors toward lower carbon inputs.

⮞In October 2026, Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection announced a USD 971,006 investment for Jubilee Dairy through its RISE PA program to install an anaerobic digester processing manure and food waste, generating renewable energy and fertilizer-usable digestate.

Restraints: Variable Quality and Nutrient Regulation

Variable product quality is a persistent restraint, as digestate composition depends on Feedstock composition and digester parameters could lead to variability in nutrient content, posing concerns for farmers used to precise nutrient content information in mineral fertilizers. High water content would result in increased costs associated with transportation, while smell and ammonia discharge could hamper acceptance by the market. In absence of standardization and certification, many operations rely on local use only, limiting commercial opportunities.

Regulatory challenges could be seen as yet another constraint, due to the complex set of rules surrounding nutrient management, seasonality issues, and differing classification of digestate in many cases. Issues with plastics, heavy metals, pathogenic bacteria, and PFAS would necessitate extra analyses and increased traceability of the product. High capital and energy costs of digestate drying and nutrients recovery are further complicating the process.

Opportunities: Nutrient Recovery and Standardized Fertilizer Products

Rapid advancements in nutrient extraction technologies are presenting an unprecedented chance to turn digestate into fertilizers which can be easily traded. Advanced technologies like ammonia stripping, struvite crystallization, membrane filtration, and thermal drying can result in products with consistent specifications. Cooperation between technology developers, biogas producers, and fertilizer distributors could secure long-term supply agreements and high prices.

Regulatory approval presents another chance since processed digestate can increasingly substitute artificial fertilizers in regulated jurisdictions. Biomethane production growth and sustainability ambitions are driving the increased demand for circular nutrients, while cooperation and tracking systems will enhance the process of gathering, transportation, tracing, and verification until 2035.

⮞In February 2026, Embrapa launched its Brazilian Digestate Initiative to develop nutrient-recovery technologies for extracting phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium from digestate, alongside concentrated organomineral fertilizer formulations and pilot-scale agricultural validation across different Brazilian crops.

Digestate-based Fertilizer Companies are:

• Veolia Environnement S.A.

• SUEZ S.A.

• Biogen (Biogen UK)

• Anaergia Inc.

• Gasum Oy

• St1 Oy (St1 Biokraft)

• EnviTec Biogas AG

• Renewi plc

• Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc.

• Vanguard Renewables

• Nature Energy (Shell)

• BTS Biogas S.r.l.

Digestate-based Fertilizer Market Report Scope: