IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i7p3556-d526464.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Production and Destination of Sewage Sludge in the Piemonte Region (Italy): The Results of a Survey for a Future Sustainable Management

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Campo

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Alberto Cerutti

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Claudio Lastella

    (Servizi Ambientali, Direzione Ambiente, Regione Piemonte, via Principe Amedeo 17, 10123 Torino, Italy)

  • Aldo Leo

    (Servizi Ambientali, Direzione Ambiente, Regione Piemonte, via Principe Amedeo 17, 10123 Torino, Italy)

  • Deborah Panepinto

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Mariachiara Zanetti

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

  • Barbara Ruffino

    (Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca Degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy)

Abstract

The management of sewage sludge originated from municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is an urgent issue. In 2019, the local authority of the Piemonte region started a survey with the aim of collecting recent data concerning wastewater and sludge management in the WWTPs located in its own territory. The survey’s results revealed that 60% of the sludge (51,000 t, as dry substance, d.s.) produced by the local WWTPs was recovered or disposed of outside of the region, and a similar amount of sludge was recovered in agriculture directly or after composting. The increase in the costs to accommodate sewage sludge in recovery or disposal plants, followed to a recent Italian Sentence (27958/2017), and the more and more stringent requirements fixed by lots of European countries for the application of sludge in agriculture, are pushing the Piemonte region authority to re-organize its own network for sludge management, with solutions based onto proximity and diversification. Whether the provisions of the current German legislation are applied in the future also in Italy, approx. 90% of sewage sludge produced into the Piemonte region should be incinerated, with a subsequent step of phosphorous recovery. The new regional plan, according to the Regional Address Deed, should consider a diversification of sludge treatment and recovery practices. On this basis, a need for new plants for around 40,000 t d.s./y could be planned.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Campo & Alberto Cerutti & Claudio Lastella & Aldo Leo & Deborah Panepinto & Mariachiara Zanetti & Barbara Ruffino, 2021. "Production and Destination of Sewage Sludge in the Piemonte Region (Italy): The Results of a Survey for a Future Sustainable Management," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-13, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:7:p:3556-:d:526464
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3556/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/7/3556/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roberta Ferrentino & Fabio Merzari & Luca Fiori & Gianni Andreottola, 2020. "Coupling Hydrothermal Carbonization with Anaerobic Digestion for Sewage Sludge Treatment: Influence of HTC Liquor and Hydrochar on Biomethane Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Michela Langone & Daniele Basso, 2020. "Process Waters from Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sludge: Characteristics and Possible Valorization Pathways," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-33, September.
    3. Maria Cristina Collivignarelli & Alessandro Abbà & Andrea Frattarola & Marco Carnevale Miino & Sergio Padovani & Ioannis Katsoyiannis & Vincenzo Torretta, 2019. "Legislation for the Reuse of Biosolids on Agricultural Land in Europe: Overview," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
    4. Dinko Đurđević & Paolo Blecich & Željko Jurić, 2019. "Energy Recovery from Sewage Sludge: The Case Study of Croatia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, May.
    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. Małgorzata Czatzkowska & Izabela Wolak & Monika Harnisz & Ewa Korzeniewska, 2022. "Impact of Anthropogenic Activities on the Dissemination of ARGs in the Environment—A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-29, October.

    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. Que Nguyen Ho & Giridhar Babu Anam & Jaein Kim & Somin Park & Tae-U Lee & Jae-Young Jeon & Yun-Young Choi & Young-Ho Ahn & Byung Joon Lee, 2022. "Fate of Sulfate in Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants and Its Effect on Sludge Recycling as a Fuel Source," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Abu-Taher Jamal-Uddin & M. Toufiq Reza & Omid Norouzi & Shakirudeen A. Salaudeen & Animesh Dutta & Richard G. Zytner, 2023. "Recovery and Reuse of Valuable Chemicals Derived from Hydrothermal Carbonization Process Liquid," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Vito Horvatić & Helena Bakić Begić & Davor Romić & Marko Černe & Smiljana Goreta Ban & Monika Zovko & Marija Romić, 2021. "Evaluation of Land Potential for Use of Biosolids in the Coastal Mediterranean Karst Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    4. Natalia Milojevic & Agnieszka Cydzik-Kwiatkowska, 2021. "Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge as a Threat of Microplastic (MP) Spread in the Environment and the Role of Governance," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Marzena Smol, 2023. "Circular Economy in Wastewater Treatment Plant—Water, Energy and Raw Materials Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Ana Simoes-Mota & Rosa Maria Poch & Alberto Enrique & Luis Orcaray & Iñigo Virto, 2021. "Soil Quality Assessment after 25 Years of Sewage Sludge vs. Mineral Fertilization in a Calcareous Soil," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, July.
    7. Dinko Đurđević & Saša Žiković & Paolo Blecich, 2022. "Sustainable Sewage Sludge Management Technologies Selection Based on Techno-Economic-Environmental Criteria: Case Study of Croatia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, May.
    8. Monika Jakubus, 2023. "Quantitative Distribution and Contamination Risk Assessment of Cu and Zn in Municipal Sewage Sludge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Jankowski, Krzysztof Józef & Kołodziej, Barbara & Dubis, Bogdan & Sugier, Danuta & Antonkiewicz, Jacek & Szatkowski, Artur, 2023. "The effect of sewage sludge on the energy balance of cup plant biomass production. A six-year field experiment in Poland," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    10. Ding, Yan & Li, Debo & Zhang, Xiaowei & Lv, Maochao & Qin, Shiru & Zhao, Peitao & Guo, Chuwen, 2024. "Research on the co-combustion characteristics and kinetics of rice husk hydrochar with anthracite," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    11. Krystian Krochmalny & Halina Pawlak-Kruczek & Norbert Skoczylas & Mateusz Kudasik & Aleksandra Gajda & Renata Gnatowska & Monika Serafin-Tkaczuk & Tomasz Czapka & Amit K. Jaiswal & Vishwajeet & Amit A, 2022. "Use of Hydrothermal Carbonization and Cold Atmospheric Plasma for Surface Modification of Brewer’s Spent Grain and Activated Carbon," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-11, June.
    12. Yuchiao Lu & Hanmin Yang & Andrey V. Karasev & Chuan Wang & Pär G. Jönsson, 2022. "Applications of Hydrochar and Charcoal in the Iron and Steelmaking Industry—Part 1: Characterization of Carbonaceous Materials," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Ewa Siedlecka & Jarosław Siedlecki, 2021. "Influence of Valorization of Sewage Sludge on Energy Consumption in the Drying Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-19, July.
    14. Gregor Sailer & Julian Comi & Florian Empl & Martin Silberhorn & Valeska Heymann & Monika Bosilj & Siham Ouardi & Stefan Pelz & Joachim Müller, 2022. "Hydrothermal Treatment of Residual Forest Wood (Softwood) and Digestate from Anaerobic Digestion—Influence of Temperature and Holding Time on the Characteristics of the Solid and Liquid Products," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-26, May.
    15. Gabriel Gerner & Luca Meyer & Rahel Wanner & Thomas Keller & Rolf Krebs, 2021. "Sewage Sludge Treatment by Hydrothermal Carbonization: Feasibility Study for Sustainable Nutrient Recovery and Fuel Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, May.
    16. Maria Cristina Collivignarelli & Alessandro Abbà & Marco Carnevale Miino & Vincenzo Torretta & Elena Cristina Rada & Francesca Maria Caccamo & Sabrina Sorlini, 2020. "Adsorption of Fluorides in Drinking Water by Palm Residues," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-12, May.
    17. Di Capua, Francesco & Spasiano, Danilo & Giordano, Andrea & Adani, Fabrizio & Fratino, Umberto & Pirozzi, Francesco & Esposito, Giovanni, 2020. "High-solid anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge: challenges and opportunities," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    18. Nicola Di Costanzo & Alessandra Cesaro & Francesco Di Capua & Giovanni Esposito, 2021. "Exploiting the Nutrient Potential of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, December.
    19. Mancini, G. & Lombardi, L. & Luciano, A. & Bolzonella, D. & Viotti, P. & Fino, D., 2024. "A reduction in global impacts through a waste-wastewater-energy nexus: A life cycle assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    20. Bezirgiannidis, Athanasios & Chatzopoulos, Paraschos & Tsakali, Aikaterini & Ntougias, Spyridon & Melidis, Paraschos, 2020. "Renewable energy recovery from sewage sludge derived from chemically enhanced precipitation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1811-1818.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:7:p:3556-:d:526464. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.