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Co-Management of Sewage Sludge and Other Organic Wastes: A Scandinavian Case Study
Summary
This review analyzes sewage sludge management in Scandinavian countries with a focus on resource recovery through co-digestion with other organic municipal wastes. Researchers found that anaerobic digestion is the dominant treatment approach and that co-management strategies can improve energy yields and nutrient recovery in a circular economy framework.
Wastewater and sewage sludge contain organic matter that can be valorized through conversion into energy and/or green chemicals. Moreover, resource recovery from these wastes has become the new focus of wastewater management, to develop more sustainable processes in a circular economy approach. The aim of this review was to analyze current sewage sludge management systems in Scandinavia with respect to resource recovery, in combination with other organic wastes. As anaerobic digestion (AD) was found to be the common sludge treatment approach in Scandinavia, different available organic municipal and industrial wastes were identified and compared, to evaluate the potential for expanding the resource recovery by anaerobic co-digestion. Additionally, a full-scale case study of co-digestion, as strategy for optimization of the anaerobic digestion treatment, was presented for each country, together with advanced biorefinery approaches to wastewater treatment and resource recovery.
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