IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i22p14693-d966393.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Circular Economy in the Biosolids Management by Nexus Approach: A View to Enhancing Safe Nutrient Recycling—Pathogens, Metals, and Emerging Organic Pollutants Concern

Author

Listed:
  • Sérgio Siqueira de Amorim Júnior

    (Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences and Agricultural Sustainability, Dom Bosco Catholic University, Campo Grande 79117-900, MS, Brazil)

  • Mariana Antonio de Souza Pereira

    (Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences and Agricultural Sustainability, Dom Bosco Catholic University, Campo Grande 79117-900, MS, Brazil)

  • Marjuli Morishigue

    (Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism and Geography, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul and Aegea Sanitation Company, Campo Grande 79070-900, MS, Brazil)

  • Reginaldo Brito da Costa

    (Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences and Agricultural Sustainability, Dom Bosco Catholic University, Campo Grande 79117-900, MS, Brazil)

  • Denilson de Oliveira Guilherme

    (Graduate Program in Environmental Sciences and Agricultural Sustainability, Dom Bosco Catholic University, Campo Grande 79117-900, MS, Brazil)

  • Fernando Jorge Correa Magalhães Filho

    (Institute of Hydraulic Research, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre 90040-060, RS, Brazil)

Abstract

Biosolids are a byproduct of sewage treatment that can create synergies and opportunity costs for promoting a circular economy and the nexus approach (water, energy, and food). They enable a cleaner agricultural production, with food safety in local development. The biosolids contain nutrients that can be recycled by agricultural soils. However, they contain heavy metals and few studies report the micropollutants present and the legal requirements of different countries (policies). The present study aimed to contribute to the knowledge of the composition and characteristics of biosolids during four years of monitoring (2016–2019). We investigated the agronomic potential of biosolids in a sequencing batch reactor. The content of biosolids in the crops studied is a potential source of macronutrients, especially N, P, and S. Pathogens fell into class B for Conama 498 (Brazil), Norm 503 (USA), and Directive 86/278 (EU) relative to Escherichia coli and enteric viruses. Metals, also compared with the three previous standards, fulfilled threshold concentrations of the respective legislations. Emerging organic pollutants remained below the detection limit, except naphthalene, which a single time was found in the biosolids above the detection limit. Finally, PCA showed that the chemical elements of the biosolids do not vary significantly relative to changes in tropical climatic conditions (resilience to climate change). Our study confirms the safe biosolids’ agronomic potential in promoting a circular economy in wastewater treatment plants. In line with a cleaner agricultural production in tropical soils, complying with the legislation on micropollutants and reducing the quantity of biosolids sent to landfill, or inadequately disposed of in the environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Sérgio Siqueira de Amorim Júnior & Mariana Antonio de Souza Pereira & Marjuli Morishigue & Reginaldo Brito da Costa & Denilson de Oliveira Guilherme & Fernando Jorge Correa Magalhães Filho, 2022. "Circular Economy in the Biosolids Management by Nexus Approach: A View to Enhancing Safe Nutrient Recycling—Pathogens, Metals, and Emerging Organic Pollutants Concern," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:14693-:d:966393
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/14693/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/14693/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Octávio Alves & Bruno Garcia & Bruna Rijo & Gonçalo Lourinho & Catarina Nobre, 2022. "Market Opportunities in Portugal for the Water-and-Waste Sector Using Sludge Gasification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-16, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Rigueiro-Rodríguez, A. & Amador-García, A. & Ferreiro-Domínguez, N. & Muñoz-Ferreiro, N. & Santiago-Freijanes, J.J. & Mosquera-Losada, M.R., 2018. "Proposing policy changes for sewage sludge applications based on zinc within a circular economy perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 839-846.
    4. Fukase, Emiko & Martin, Will, 2020. "Economic growth, convergence, and world food demand and supply," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    5. Derek Headey & Giordano Palloni, 2019. "Water, Sanitation, and Child Health: Evidence From Subnational Panel Data in 59 Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 729-752, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Dario Meili & Vasco Schelbert & Mahbub-Ul Alam & Prince Antwi-Agyei & Sheillah Simiyu & Kwaku Amaning Adjei & Bismark Dwumfour-Asare & Mahbubur Rahman & Christoph Lüthi & Isabel Günther, 2022. "Indicators for Sanitation Quality in Low-Income Urban Settlements: Evidence from Kenya, Ghana, and Bangladesh," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 683-720, July.
    2. Alhassan Abdul Mumin & Abdul-Rahim Mohammed & Toyibu Issahaku & Baba Iddrisu Musah, 2024. "How has community-led total sanitation (CLTS) affected open defecation in urban communities in the Tamale Metropolis?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 21353-21368, August.
    3. Zadeh, S. M. & Drechsel, Pay & Salcedo, F. P., 2023. "Water quality and the Sustainable Development Goals," IWMI Books, Reports H052240, International Water Management Institute.
    4. Rami Rawashdeh, 2023. "Estimating short-run (SR) and long-run (LR) demand elasticities of phosphate," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 36(2), pages 239-253, June.
    5. Bridgman, Grace & von Fintel, Dieter, 2022. "Stunting, double orphanhood and unequal access to public services in democratic South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    6. Les Copeland, 2022. "Resilience of Agri-Food Systems," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-4, April.
    7. Castro, André Bueno Rezende de, 2021. "Impact of Agricultural Market Linkages on Small-Scale Farmers’ Welfare: Evidence from Tanzania," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 314941, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Dinko Đurđević & Saša Žiković & Tomislav Čop, 2022. "Socio-Economic, Technical and Environmental Indicators for Sustainable Sewage Sludge Management and LEAP Analysis of Emissions Reduction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-15, August.
    9. Sana Khushi & Sajid Rashid Ahmad & Ather Ashraf & Muhammad Imran, 2020. "Spatially analyzing food consumption inequalities using GIS with disaggregated data from Punjab, Pakistan," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 12(6), pages 1283-1298, December.
    10. Raquel P. F. Guiné & Sofia G. Florença & Ofélia Anjos & Nada M. Boustani & Cristina Chuck-Hernández & Marijana Matek Sarić & Manuela Ferreira & Cristina A. Costa & Elena Bartkiene & Ana P. Cardoso & M, 2022. "Are Consumers Aware of Sustainability Aspects Related to Edible Insects? Results from a Study Involving 14 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-18, October.
    11. Alberto Chong & Virgilio Galdo, 2021. "Direct and indirect effects of a massive piped water expansion on child‐related outcomes," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 1576-1600, August.
    12. Berman, Nicolas & Couttenier, Mathieu & Leblois, Antoine & Soubeyran, Raphael, 2023. "Crop prices and deforestation in the tropics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    13. Nathaniel Scherer & Islay Mactaggart & Chelsea Huggett & Pharozin Pheng & Mahfuj-ur Rahman & Adam Biran & Jane Wilbur, 2021. "The Inclusion of Rights of People with Disabilities and Women and Girls in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Policy Documents and Programs of Bangladesh and Cambodia: Content Analysis Using EquiFrame," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-19, May.
    14. M. Graziano Ceddia, 2020. "The super-rich and cropland expansion via direct investments in agriculture," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(4), pages 312-318, April.
    15. Tadadjeu, Sosson & Njangang, Henri & Ningaye, Paul & Nourou, Mohammadou, 2020. "Linking natural resource dependence and access to water and sanitation in African countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    16. Tii N. Nchofoung & Guivis Zeufack Nkemgha & Dieu ne Dort Talla Fokam & Arsène Aurelien Njamen Kengdo, 2024. "Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals Through Water and Sanitation: Do Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Matter for Africa?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4383-4407, March.
    17. Shyma Jose & Ashok Gulati & Kriti Khuran, 2020. "Achieving Nutritional Security in India: Vision 2030," Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) Report 20-r-05, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), New Delhi, India.
    18. Yuyun Puji Rahayu & Albertus Girik Allo & Umi Yuminarti & Elina R. Situmorang, 2023. "Is sago the best substitution for rice? An analysis of demand for rice in Papua," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 1-13, April.
    19. Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman & Ponce, Pablo & Yu, Zhang & Ponce, Katerine, 2022. "Investigating economic growth and natural resource dependence: An asymmetric approach in developed and developing economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    20. Bola Amoke Awotide & Adebayo Ogunniyi & Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju & Lateef Olalekan Bello & Amadou Youssouf Coulibaly & Alexander Nimo Wiredu & Bourémo Kone & Aly Ahamadou & Victor Manyong & Tahirou Ab, 2022. "Evaluating the Heterogeneous Impacts of Adoption of Climate-Smart Agricultural Technologies on Rural Households’ Welfare in Mali," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, November.

    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:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:14693-:d:966393. 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.