Sewage Sludge Biorefinery for Circular Economy

Daniele Cecconet and Andrea G. Capodaglio ()
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Daniele Cecconet: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Andrea G. Capodaglio: Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 3, 27100 Pavia, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-17

Abstract: Sewage sludge processing and disposal have a significant weight on the energy and economic balances of wastewater treatment operations and contribute substantially to greenhouse gas emissions related to wastewater processing. Despite this, sewage sludge contains substantial recoverable resources in the form of energy and useful molecules. The current challenge, other than reducing the environmental and economic impacts of its disposal, is to recover energy and materials from this waste stream, implementing a biosolid-centered circular economy with the greatest possible added value. A number of options along these lines exist, and others are being investigated, ranging from biological processes, thermochemical technologies, bioelectrochemical processing, biorefineries and others. Recoverable resources comprise biogas from sludge fermentation, liquid and solid end products (e.g., biodiesel and biochar) and valuable nutrients (N and P). This paper presents a state of the art of biorefinery, with emphasis on recent developments in non-conventional resource recovery from EBSS streams for sludge-based circular economy implementation. Expectations and limitations, including technological readiness, of these technologies are discussed.

Keywords: sewage sludge; biorefinery; energy; biofuels; resource recovery; circular economy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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