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Standardization: A Necessary Support to the Utilization of Sludge/Biosolids in Agriculture
Summary
This paper argues that standardized regulations are needed for applying wastewater treatment sludge to agricultural land, due to varying contaminant levels including microplastics. Without clear standards, land application of sludge risks introducing plastic particles and other pollutants into farmland soils and the food supply.
One of the issues facing modern society, whatever the socio-economic level of the communities involved, is the development of sustainable strategies in the management of sludge/biosolids. Today, it is imperative to replace solutions aimed at simply “disposing of” with those oriented towards “maximizing recovery benefits”. It is desirable that agricultural use remains the main option in sludge/biosolids management, but to ensure effective and safe agronomic benefits, correctly fulfill the legal requirements, and build stakeholder and public confidence, rigorous and sustainable procedures need to be estab-lished. The development of realistic and enforceable regulation is crucial as it represents the right bal-ance between the different aspects of a coordinated and effective management. Furthermore, it is to recognize that regulation needs to be supported by standardized character-ization procedures and guidelines of good practices, because well-defined procedures allow le-gal requirements to be correctly and uniformly met, thus ensuring reliable comparison of re-sults obtained under different conditions. In this article, main aspects to consider for a sustainable application of this management practice are discussed, together with the parameters that need to be evaluated for the characterization of sludge/biosolids, according to the various aspects related to the agricultural use.
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Standardization: A Necessary Support for the Utilization of Sludge/Biosolids in Agriculture
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