CINIS Fertilizer

Based in Sweden, CINIS Fertilizer converts industrial waste such as ash from pulp and paper mills and waste salts from electric car battery manufacturing into sulfate of potash (SOP) fertilizer using a patented conversion process. In addition to SOP, the company offers salt, which is a byproduct of its fertilizer production. The SOP fertilizer is stated to be emission-free; it is also said that it improves crop yield and taste.

The company claims that its process consumes 50% less energy and has a 20% lower production cost compared to the Mannheim production process (an industrial standard process of producing SOP). In addition, the company’s production facilities only use renewable energy and do not produce any harmful byproducts like hydrochloric acid.

As of November 2023, the company had not commercialized its product and was building three production facilities in Örnsköldsvik (planned 2H 2023), Kentucky (planned 2025) and Skellefteå. In May 2023, It received the environmental permit from the Swedish Land and Environment Court in Umeå for the production of mineral fertilizer in the municipality of Köpmanholmen, Örnsköldsvik. The company also reported that it will start production of fossil-free fertilizer as early as the beginning of 2024.

Key customers and partnerships

In October 2021, CINIS signed an agreement with Swedish lithium-ion battery manufacturer Northvolt to convert the latter’s waste sodium sulfate into SOP. In the same month, CINIS secured a 10-year exclusive marketing and distribution agreement with Swedish multinational fertilizer company Van Iperen International. CINIS will produce 300,000 tons of fertilizer per year, which would be purchased and distributed by Van Iperen International under the latter’s “GreenSwitch” fertilizer brand. The first GreenSwitch product produced by CINIS was expected to hit the markets by the end of 2023. In June 2023, Cinis Fertilizer signed a long-term agreement with chemical and material science company BASF for deliveries of sodium sulfate. In September 2023, the company signed a long-term agreement with K+S Minerals and Agriculture (K+S) for the purchase and delivery of potassium chloride for Cinis Fertilizer's first two production facilities in Örnsköldsvik and Skellefteå in Sweden.