The challenges of recovering resources from wastewater are an integral part of the circular economy.
The ongoing paradigm shift in sewage management from pollution control to resource recovery is an integral part of a circular economy. Efforts have traditionally concentrated on the recovery of organic carbon as bioenergy, and nitrogen and phosphorus as nutrients. In the past decade, technologies have been developed to recover high-value commodities. Simultaneously, innovative processes have been proposed to produce chemical agents that can be immediately reused in the sewage system to facilitate sewage management. This Review evaluates these latest developments and the underpinning scientific discoveries, identifies the key challenges, and outlines a roadmap towards greener and more sustainable sewage management.
A large-scale study was carried out by several researchers from international universities, including Mathieu Sperandio, and published in Nature Magazine Sustainability.
References
Zheng, M., Hu, Z., Liu, T. et al. Pathways to advanced resource recovery from sewage. Nat Sustain 7, 1395–1404 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-024-01423-6
Contact
Mathieu Spérandio
