Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, Research Unit of Water Quality Management, Karlsplatz 13/E226-1, Vienna, 1040 Vienna, Austria.
Institute for Water Quality and Resource Management, Research Unit of Waste and Resource Management, Karlsplatz 13/E226-2, Vienna 1040, Vienna, Austria.
Sci Total Environ. 2022 Nov 10;846:157401. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157401. Epub 2022 Jul 22.
Within the new policy framework shaped by the EU Green Deal and the Circular Economy Action Plans, the field of wastewater and sludge treatment in Europe is subject to high expectations and new challenges related to mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, micropollutant removal and resource recovery. With respect to phosphorus recovery, several technologies and processes have been thoroughly investigated. Nevertheless, a systemic and detailed understanding of the existing infrastructure and of the related environmental and economic implications is missing. Such basis is essential to avoid unwanted consequences in designing new strategies, given the long lifespan of any infrastructural change. This study couples a newly collected and highly detailed database for all wastewater treatment plants in Austria bigger than 2000 population equivalent with a combination of analyses, namely Substance Flow Analysis with focus on nutrient and metal distribution in different environmental and anthropogenic compartments, Energy Flow Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment and cost estimation. The case study of Austria is of special interest, given its highly autonomous administration in federal states and its contrasting traits, ranging from flat metropolitan areas like Vienna to low-populated alpine areas. The significant impact of electricity demand of wastewater treatment on the overall Cumulative Energy Demand (CED) shows the importance of optimization measures. Further, the current system of wastewater and sludge disposal have a low efficiency in recovering nutrients and in directing pollutants as heavy metals into final sinks. Sludge composting with subsequent use in landscaping does not only show an unfavorable environmental balance, but it is the only relevant route leading to additional CED and Global Warming Potential emissions and to the highest transport volume. Altogether, the outcomes of this study provide a sound basis to further develop national strategies for resource recovery aimed to optimize trade-offs between different economic and environmental objectives.
在欧盟绿色协议和循环经济行动计划塑造的新政策框架内，欧洲的废水和污泥处理领域面临着与温室气体排放缓解、微污染物去除和资源回收相关的高期望和新挑战。就磷回收而言，已经对几种技术和工艺进行了深入研究。然而，对于现有的基础设施及其相关的环境和经济影响，缺乏系统和详细的了解。由于任何基础设施变化的寿命都很长，因此这种基础对于在设计新策略时避免不必要的后果至关重要。本研究将奥地利所有大于 2000 人口当量的废水处理厂的新收集的高度详细数据库与一系列分析相结合，即重点关注营养物质和金属在不同环境和人为环境中的分布的物质流分析，能源流分析，生命周期评估和成本估算。奥地利的案例研究特别有趣，因为它在联邦州拥有高度自主的管理，并且具有从维也纳这样的大都市地区到人口稀少的高山地区等截然不同的特征。废水处理的电力需求对总累积能源需求（CED）的重大影响表明了优化措施的重要性。此外，当前的废水和污泥处理系统在回收营养物质和将污染物（如重金属）引导到最终汇方面效率低下。随后在景观美化中使用的污泥堆肥不仅显示出不利的环境平衡，而且是导致额外 CED 和全球变暖潜力排放以及最高运输量的唯一相关途径。总的来说，这项研究的结果为进一步制定旨在优化不同经济和环境目标之间权衡的国家资源回收战略提供了坚实的基础。
