Circular economy · the potash loop

From the field to the boiler and back to the field.

Potassium in the soilVAN10 t ash → 1 t potashKimported potashK
8/8

Pakistan imports its potash

Pakistan has no potash mine in production, so each tonne VAN recovers replaces a tonne of imported potash. Between 2023 and 2026 VAN replaced about 300 t of imported potash. The line being built for 2027 will recover 500 t a year from 5,000 t of ash.

Beyond the bag · circular economy

The residue leaves the field. We bring the minerals back.

Crop residue leaves the field to fuel a bio-power boiler. The potassium and the silicon that the crop pulled out of that soil leave with it, and end up concentrated in the crop residue ash. We collect that ash, measure what is in it, recover the potassium and the silicon, and formulate them back into fertilizer. That is the loop.

01 Where it stands02 What we do not claim
Also in this section, on their own pages
Fly ash to nutrient →What physically happens to a tonne of ash after it reaches VAN, step by step.The soil actions register →Every intervention VAN makes to soil, the mechanism it works through, and the evidence behind it.
01Where it stands

Potassium is in production. Silicon is not.

~20%
of VAN’s potash intake now comes from recovered material, not import
3,000 t
fly ash processed to date
500 t
recovered potash a year, from 5,000 t of ash. The line we are building for 2027
~10 : 1
tonnes of ash in, per tonne of potash out

We recover potassium today and consume it inside our own manufacturing, in place of imported potash. It is a working raw material, not a trial. About 300 tonnes of imported potash has been replaced between 2023 and 2026, across several forms and grades, which is what 3,000 tonnes of ash yields at the recovery ratio above.

We have taken the silicon route to the final stage of R&D. It is proven in our laboratory and is being readied to join the production line. The target form is not fixed yet. Soluble silicate and amorphous silica behave differently in an alkaline soil, and the form will be set when the R&D is complete. Scale-up is planned for the end of 2027.

Potassium: in production · scaling upSilicon: R&D. Final stageFeedstock: crop residue ashHeavy metals screened by PCSIR
02What we do not claim

Recovered potassium is used across VAN’s potash grades, so no single bag is marked with it.

Recovered potassium enters VAN products as a raw material, the same way bought-in potash does. It is not kept for 1 grade, so no VAN product carries a “made with recovered potassium” mark.

Silicon recovery is still finishing R&D and is not in any product. We do not claim to close the carbon loop: combustion takes the carbon, we recover the minerals.