IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/recore/v87y2014icp97-108.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Phosphorus recovery and recycling from waste: An appraisal based on a French case study

Author

Listed:
  • Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu
  • Mollier, Alain
  • Delmas, Magalie
  • Pellerin, Sylvain
  • Nesme, Thomas

Abstract

Phosphate rocks, used for phosphorus (P) fertilizer production, are a non-renewable resource at the human time scale. Their depletion at the global scale may threaten global food and feed security. To prevent this depletion, improved P resource recycling from food chain waste to agricultural soils and to the food and feed industry is often presented as a serious option. However, waste streams are often complex and their recycling efficiency is poorly characterized. The aim of this paper is to estimate the P recovery and recycling potential from waste, considering France as a case study. We assessed the P flows in food processing waste, household wastewater and municipal waste at the country scale using a substance flow analysis for the year 2006. We also quantified the P recycling efficiency as the fraction of P in waste that ultimately reached agricultural soils or was recycled in the food and feed industry. Efforts were made to limit data uncertainty by cross-checking multiple data sources concerning P content in waste materials. Results showed that, in general, P recovery in waste was high but that the overall P recycling efficiency was only 51% at the country scale. In particular, P recycling efficiency was 75% for industrial waste, 43% for household wastewater and 47% for municipal waste. The remaining P was discharged into water bodies or landfilled, causing P-induced environmental problems as well as losses of nutrient resources. Major P losses were through food waste (which amounted to 39% of P in available food) and treated wastewater, and the findings were confirmed through cross-checking with alternative data sources. Options for improving P resource recycling and, thereby, reducing P fertilizer use were quantified but appeared to be less promising than scenarios based on reduced food waste or redesigned agricultural systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Senthilkumar, Kalimuthu & Mollier, Alain & Delmas, Magalie & Pellerin, Sylvain & Nesme, Thomas, 2014. "Phosphorus recovery and recycling from waste: An appraisal based on a French case study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 97-108.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:87:y:2014:i:c:p:97-108
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2014.03.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344914000639
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resconrec.2014.03.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johannes Lehmann, 2013. "Recycle waste for nourishing soils," Nature, Nature, vol. 504(7478), pages 33-33, December.
    2. Ott, Christian & Rechberger, Helmut, 2012. "The European phosphorus balance," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 159-172.
    3. Linderholm, Kersti & Tillman, Anne-Marie & Mattsson, Jan Erik, 2012. "Life cycle assessment of phosphorus alternatives for Swedish agriculture," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 27-39.
    4. Yuliya Kalmykova & Robin Harder & Helena Borgestedt & Ingela Svanäng, 2012. "Pathways and Management of Phosphorus in Urban Areas," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 16(6), pages 928-939, December.
    5. Daniel Hoornweg & Perinaz Bhada-Tata & Chris Kennedy, 2013. "Environment: Waste production must peak this century," Nature, Nature, vol. 502(7473), pages 615-617, October.
    6. Cooper, James & Carliell-Marquet, Cynthia, 2013. "A substance flow analysis of phosphorus in the UK food production and consumption system," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 82-100.
    7. Paul H. Brunner, 2010. "Substance Flow Analysis as a Decision Support Tool for Phosphorus Management," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 14(6), pages 870-873, December.
    8. Natasha Gilbert, 2009. "Environment: The disappearing nutrient," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7265), pages 716-718, October.
    9. James Elser & Elena Bennett, 2011. "A broken biogeochemical cycle," Nature, Nature, vol. 478(7367), pages 29-31, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Theobald, Tim F.H. & Schipper, Mark & Kern, Jürgen, 2016. "Phosphorus flows in Berlin-Brandenburg, a regional flow analysis," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Klinglmair, Manfred & Lemming, Camilla & Jensen, Lars Stoumann & Rechberger, Helmut & Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard & Scheutz, Charlotte, 2015. "Phosphorus in Denmark: National and regional anthropogenic flows," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 311-324.
    3. Yutong Sun & Shangrong Jiang & Shouyang Wang, 2024. "The environmental impacts and sustainable pathways of the global diamond industry," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Houssini, Khaoula & Geng, Yong & Liu, Jing-Yu & Zeng, Xianlai & Hohl, Simon V., 2023. "Measuring anthropogenic phosphorus cycles to promote resource recovery and circularity in Morocco," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Klinglmair, Manfred & Vadenbo, Carl & Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard & Scheutz, Charlotte, 2017. "An MFA-based optimization model for increased resource efficiency: Phosphorus flows in Denmark," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 1-10.
    6. Jedelhauser, Michael & Binder, Claudia R., 2015. "Losses and efficiencies of phosphorus on a national level – A comparison of European substance flow analyses," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 294-310.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chowdhury, Rubel Biswas & Moore, Graham A. & Weatherley, Anthony J. & Arora, Meenakshi, 2014. "A review of recent substance flow analyses of phosphorus to identify priority management areas at different geographical scales," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 213-228.
    2. Theobald, Tim F.H. & Schipper, Mark & Kern, Jürgen, 2016. "Phosphorus flows in Berlin-Brandenburg, a regional flow analysis," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1-14.
    3. Wu, Huijun & Yuan, Zengwei & Zhang, Yongliang & Gao, Liangmin & Liu, Shaomin, 2014. "Life-cycle phosphorus use efficiency of the farming system in Anhui Province, Central China," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Klinglmair, Manfred & Lemming, Camilla & Jensen, Lars Stoumann & Rechberger, Helmut & Astrup, Thomas Fruergaard & Scheutz, Charlotte, 2015. "Phosphorus in Denmark: National and regional anthropogenic flows," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 105(PB), pages 311-324.
    5. Reijnders, L., 2014. "Phosphorus resources, their depletion and conservation, a review," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 32-49.
    6. Cooper, James & Carliell-Marquet, Cynthia, 2013. "A substance flow analysis of phosphorus in the UK food production and consumption system," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 82-100.
    7. Coppens, Joeri & Meers, Erik & Boon, Nico & Buysse, Jeroen & Vlaeminck, Siegfried E., 2016. "Follow the N and P road: High-resolution nutrient flow analysis of the Flanders region as precursor for sustainable resource management," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 9-21.
    8. Walan, Petter & Davidsson, Simon & Johansson, Sheshti & Höök, Mikael, 2014. "Phosphate rock production and depletion: Regional disaggregated modeling and global implications," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 178-187.
    9. Qiming Wang & Tao Zhang & Xinyue He & Rongfeng Jiang, 2017. "Assessment of Phosphorus Recovery from Swine Wastewater in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-14, October.
    10. Alessandro De Matteis & Fethiye Burcu Turkmen Ceylan & Mona Daoud & Anne Kahuthu, 2022. "A systemic approach to tackling ocean plastic debris," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 136-145, March.
    11. James J Elser & Timothy J Elser & Stephen R Carpenter & William A Brock, 2014. "Regime Shift in Fertilizer Commodities Indicates More Turbulence Ahead for Food Security," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-7, May.
    12. Nancy Diaz-Elsayed & Jiayi Hua & Nader Rezaei & Qiong Zhang, 2023. "A Decision Framework for Designing Sustainable Wastewater-Based Resource Recovery Schemes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-27, February.
    13. Imran Khan & Furrukh Bashir & Rashid Ahmad & Muhammad Ayub, 2021. "Shopping Motivation and Green Consumption: A Study about Green Buying Behavior of Pakistani Consumers," iRASD Journal of Management, International Research Alliance for Sustainable Development (iRASD), vol. 3(3), pages 233-242, December.
    14. Cordier, Mateo & Uehara, Takuro & Baztan, Juan & Jorgensen, Bethany & Yan, Huijie, 2021. "Plastic pollution and economic growth: The influence of corruption and lack of education," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    15. Brogaard, Line K. & Damgaard, Anders & Jensen, Morten B. & Barlaz, Morton & Christensen, Thomas H., 2014. "Evaluation of life cycle inventory data for recycling systems," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 30-45.
    16. Nguyet Thi Tran & Dirk Weichgrebe, 2020. "Regional material flow behaviors of agro‐food processing craft villages in Red River Delta, Vietnam," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(3), pages 707-725, June.
    17. Deb Raj Aryal & Danilo Enrique Morales Ruiz & César Noé Tondopó Marroquín & René Pinto Ruiz & Francisco Guevara Hernández & José Apolonio Venegas Venegas & Alejandro Ponce Mendoza & Gilberto Villanuev, 2018. "Soil Organic Carbon Depletion from Forests to Grasslands Conversion in Mexico: A Review," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 8(11), pages 1-15, November.
    18. Egle, L. & Zoboli, O. & Thaler, S. & Rechberger, H. & Zessner, M., 2014. "The Austrian P budget as a basis for resource optimization," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 152-162.
    19. Bente Foereid & Julia Szocs, 2022. "Does Loading Ammonium to Sorbents Affect Plant Availability in Soil?," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-11, July.
    20. Maaß, Oliver & Grundmann, Philipp & von Bock und Polach, Carlotta, 2014. "Added-value from innovative value chains by establishing nutrient cycles via struvite," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 126-136.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:87:y:2014:i:c:p:97-108. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kai Meng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-conservation-and-recycling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.