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UK scientist wins prize for invention that could help avert ‘phosphogeddon’

Phosphate, key to food production, is choking waterways, but a new sponge-like material returns it to the soil for crops

The company Rookwood Operations, based in Wells, Somerset, has launched a product that enables phosphates to be extracted from problem areas and then reused on farmland. “Our product has a straightforward goal – to transfer phosphates from rivers and lakes where they are causing real damage and move them in a simple manner to farmland, where they can be of use in growing crops,” Pearce told the Observer last week. “Essentially, the PRM we have developed acts like a sponge that absorbs phosphates,” said Pearce, who set up Rookwood Operations with her partner, Liam, and a friend, Josh Hares.

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