Poster presented at the 14th Panhellenic Conference on Chemical Engineering in Thessaloniki, Greece. 

Sewage sludge is the main waste stream resulting from the physicochemical and biological treatment of wastewater. The aim of this study is to quantify the flows, quantities, and valorization methods of sewage sludge, to accurately depict the current situation through the Material Flow Analysis (MFA) methodology. Based on results of this study, it emerged that a significant amount of sewage sludge is produced in EU-28 (~10 mtdb/yr) suitable for utilization into products of biological origin. A significant fraction of the available sewage sludge (~37% w/w) is used in agriculture, due to its high nutrient content, while ~10% w/w is used in the production of biofertilizer (compost) and in other applications. Incineration is another important management option (~25% w/w), while landfilling (~8% w/w) is declining as a management practice. Finally, the amount of sewage sludge that is used for the production of bio-based products remains very low (0.3% w/w), but with many prospects for development, as many valorization technologies are maturing towards commercial exploitation.

The poster was developed for the Horizon Europe project BioReCer (Biological Resources Certifications Schemes). BioReCer aims at assessing and complementing current certification schemes for biological resources according to the new EU sustainability goals to enhance bio-based circular systems. This will be achieved by including new criteria that align with EU taxonomy and EU corporate due diligence regulations into guidelines for certifying biological resources’ sustainability, origin, tracking and traceability (T&T), and by ensuring applicability at EU and global scale. By promoting the sustainability and trade of biological resources, BioReCer will increase the added value, use, as well as social acceptance of bio-based products.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.