Situation Analysis and the Potential for Circularity of the Wastewater Sector in Lithuania

Jolita Kruopienė and Miglė Žiukaitė
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Jolita Kruopienė: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, LT-44249 Kaunas, Lithuania
Miglė Žiukaitė: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, LT-44249 Kaunas, Lithuania

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: The concept of circular economy is one of the priority areas for economic development on which the current environmental policy of the European Union is based. Most existing European wastewater treatment plants were built and operated according to the concept of linear economy where wastewater and sewage sludge were considered as waste only. In fact, there is a wide range of possibilities to use them as a resource to recover materials and energy. Implementation of the concept of circular economy in a relatively small country requires a great deal of additional research and monitoring to assess the available potential. In this paper, data on municipal wastewater in agglomerations larger than population equivalent of 2000 were analyzed, and the situation is presented through indicators covering prevention, removal, reuse, recycling, and recovery. The novelty of this article is that it evaluates the circularity of Lithuanian wastewater treatment plants and their potential for the future. Thus far, the wastewater sector in the country has been found to largely comply with legal obligations, but very few solutions of circularity were found to be implemented.

Keywords: wastewater; sewage sludge; circularity; resource recovery; Lithuania (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 (1)

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