The Biofuels Research and Development sub-team investigated the formation of struvite, a slow release fertilizer, from acid-whey waste streams. Struvite formation requires nitrogen and phosphorus, so recovering struvite can reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus of waste-streams. Additionally, compared to other fertilizers, there is less potential for nutrient runoff or overfertilization due to its slow-release nature. In collaboration with the Tester research group in CBE, the Biofuels Research & Development sub-team created model solutions in the lab to represent anaerobic digestate from acid-whey waste streams, and performed struvite precipitation reactions. Based on their results, the team published their research paper in May of 2022, which can be found here.