Integrating resource recovery process and watershed modelling to facilitate decision-making regarding bio-fertilizer production and application

Waste management strategies such as anaerobic digestion and composting produce bio-based fertilizer products that could be applied to agricultural soil. Although multiple modelling software tools are available to simulate the environmental effect of fertilizer application to the soil, these models do not allow specification of emerging bio-based fertilizer types. Moreover, mathematical process models exist that allow optimizing the operational settings of waste management processes in order to produce an optimal bio-fertilizer quality adjusted to the local market needs. If an integrated tool would be available that couples process modelling to watershed modelling, the valorization chain could be simulated as a whole, i.e. the bio-fertilizer type and composition could be adjusted to the local watershed and environmental impacts of bio-based fertilizer production and application could more easily be assessed and controlled. The availability of such integrated tool may as such allow for improved decision and policy making regarding bio-fertilizer production and application with environmental benefits as a result.

Automated summary

Waste management strategies like anaerobic digestion and composting can produce bio-based fertilizer products for agricultural soil. Current modelling software does not allow for specification of emerging bio-based fertilizer types. Integration of process modelling with watershed modelling could improve the assessment and control of the environmental impacts of bio-based fertilizer production and application, leading to better decision and policy making.