Sustainability Strategies in Municipal Wastewater Treatment

Ján Derco (), Patrícia Guľašová, Maša Legan, Ronald Zakhar and Andreja Žgajnar Gotvajn
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Ján Derco: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia
Patrícia Guľašová: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia
Maša Legan: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Ronald Zakhar: Institute of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Radlinského 9, 812 37 Bratislava, Slovakia
Andreja Žgajnar Gotvajn: Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-41

Abstract: The European Parliament adopted a legislative resolution of 10 April 2024 on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning urban wastewater treatment. The reduction in pollution in discharged treated wastewater in the parameters of BOD 5 , total nitrogen, and total phosphorus was emphasized. Based on these results, it stated that the impacts on the quality of lakes, rivers, and seas in the EU are visible and tangible. At the same time, it was emphasized that the sector of urban wastewater removal and treatment is responsible for 0.8% of total electricity consumption and about 0.86% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the entire EU. Almost a third of these emissions could be prevented by improving the treatment process, better use of sewage sludge, and increasing energy efficiency, as well as a higher rate of use of renewable resource technologies. It is also necessary to integrate treatment processes into the circular economy. Sludge management and water reuse are suboptimal as too many valuable resources are still being wasted. This article focuses on sustainable municipal wastewater treatment, innovative and new wastewater treatment processes and technologies (combined and hybrid processes, ANAMMOX, etc.) and their use in practice with the aim of increasing environmental and energy efficiency and reducing the carbon footprint. The research is focused on the possibilities of increasing the efficiency of energy processing of sludge, reuse of nitrogen and phosphorus, sludge, and reuse of treated wastewater.

Keywords: efficiency; emerging pollutants; energy savings; greenhouse emissions; innovative and novel processes; macronutrients; microalgae; micropollutants; municipal wastewater treatment; sludge management; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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