Recirculating treated sewage sludge for agricultural use: Life cycle assessment for a circular economy

The objective of this study is to assess the environmental value of recirculating nutrients from treated sewage sludge by application to agricultural soils to grow forage as opposed to landfilling and incineration. The methodological choices are aligned to the circular economy framework using life cycle assessment. Consequential modeling and open loop modeling were adopted and adhere to ISO 14044 and International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) standards. The functional unit is defined in terms of the amounts of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) recirculated from the treated sewage sludge produced annually in Kuwait. The results indicate a reduction in environmental burden with respect to fossil fuel depletion, metal depletion and climate change. A total of 95% of the reduction is realized by avoiding virgin nitrogen production and instead using its recirculated counterpart. Considerable amounts of natural gas, coal, dinitrogen monoxide (nitrous oxide, N2O) and copper are consumed during virgin N fertilizer production.

Automated summary

This study evaluates the environmental value of recirculating nutrients from treated sewage sludge to agricultural soils for growing forage, compared to landfilling and incineration. Life cycle assessment methodology is used with consequential and open loop modeling, following ISO 14044 and ILCD standards. The results show a reduction in environmental burden by avoiding virgin nitrogen production in favor of its recirculated counterpart.