Phosphorus flows and balances of the European Union Member States

Dijk, Kimo C. van; Lesschen, J.P.; Oenema, O.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.08.048

Cited by 301 publications

(192 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(88 reference statements)

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“…Kimo van Dijk et al (2016) examined all categories of loss for the EU, which included consumption, non-food production, food processing, animal production, and crop production [39]. Out of all sectors, consumption demonstrated the highest level of loss is the waste water sector (32% of the total system losses).…”

Section: Environmental Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Drivers and Barriers for the Deployment of Urban Phosphorus Recovery Technologies: A Case Study of The Netherlands

et al. 2018

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Phosphorus (P), being one of the building blocks of life, is essential for a multitude of applications, primarily for fertilizer usage. Sustainable management of phosphorus is becoming increasingly important in light of adverse environmental effects, ambiguous reserves, increasing global demand and unilateral dependence. Recovery of phosphorus from the biggest loss stream, communal wastewater, has the potential to tackle each of these problems. The implementation of phosphorus recovery technologies at wastewater treatment plants is not widespread, despite prolonged efforts primarily done by researchers over the past decade. This study aimed to assess the drivers and barriers of a phosphorus recovery transition. Several key stakeholders involved in this transition in The Netherlands were interviewed. The Netherlands was taken as a case study, since it serves as a frontrunner in the implementation of phosphorus recovery technologies. This study shows that the main barriers from the point of view of fertilizer companies are the different and unclear characteristics of the phosphorus recovery product struvite compared to common fertilizers. Moreover, the end-of-waste status of struvite is mentioned as a prominent barrier for a phosphorus transition, since it hinders free market trade. Many water boards indicate that the main barrier is the high investment cost with an uncertain return on investment for onsite struvite recovery processes. The specified main driver for water boards for onsite struvite phosphorus recovery technology is the reduction of maintenance costs, and for phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge ash, the low organic pollutant in the P recovery product.

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Section: Environmental Aspectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Assessment of the Drivers and Barriers for the Deployment of Urban Phosphorus Recovery Technologies: A Case Study of The Netherlands

et al. 2018

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“…The fitting procedure was the same as described previously. The high and low estimates were calculated by increasing or decreasing, respectively, fertilizer by 5%, detergent by 16%, and imports and exports by 12% based on uncertainty ranges used by van Dijk et al (2015) for P-flow analyses of European countries. To reflect greater uncertainty for years before 1961, we doubled the uncertainty value for each NAPI component (Text S5).…”

Section: Uncertainty Analysis Of Net Anthropogenic Phosphorus Inputsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such models are often applied to small agricultural drainage basins and do not describe P dynamics at broader spatial scales or for areas with diverse land uses. Other approaches, such as P-flow analyses (van Dijk et al, 2015) and input-output budgets (Asmala et al, 2011;Hong et al, 2017), provide evidence that P is accumulating in the landscape, but do not give insight into the fate of this P.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Century of Legacy Phosphorus Dynamics in a Large Drainage Basin

McCrackin

Muller-Karulis

Gustafsson

et al. 2018

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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There is growing evidence that the release of phosphorus (P) from "legacy" stores can frustrate efforts to reduce P loading to surface water from sources such as agriculture and human sewage. Less is known, however, about the magnitude and residence times of these legacy pools. Here we constructed a budget of net anthropogenic P inputs to the Baltic Sea drainage basin and developed a three-parameter, two-box model to describe the movement of anthropogenic P though temporary (mobile) and long-term (stable) storage pools. Phosphorus entered the sea as direct coastal effluent discharge and via rapid transport and slow, legacy pathways. The model reproduced past waterborne P loads and suggested an~30-year residence time in the mobile pool. Between 1900 and 2013, 17 and 27 Mt P has accumulated in the mobile and stable pools, respectively. Phosphorus inputs to the sea have halved since the 1980s due to improvements in coastal sewage treatment and reductions associated with the rapid transport pathway. After decades of accumulation, the system appears to have shifted to a depletion phase; absent further reductions in net anthropogenic P input, future waterborne loads could decrease. Presently, losses from the mobile pool contribute nearly half of P loads, suggesting that it will be difficult to achieve substantial near-term reductions. However, there is still potential to make progress toward eutrophication management goals by addressing rapid transport pathways, such as overland flow, as well as mobile stores, such as cropland with large soil-P reserves.Plain Language Summary All life depends on phosphorus (P), which is why it is an important crop fertilizer. Humans generally consume more P than needed and the excess ends up in sewage systems. Past management of P in fertilizer and human sewage has led to the accumulation of P in soils and sediments of lakes and streams. This accumulation is called "legacy" P because it can leak for decades to downstream lakes and coastal areas where it contributes to environmental problems. We developed a model to understand P dynamics for the entire drainage basin of the Baltic Sea since 1900. This model included a rapid transport pathway that represented sources such as runoff from cropland and a slow pathway that represented leakage from mobile legacy sources. The model suggests that loss from the mobile pool contributes about half of current waterborne inputs to the sea; as a result, it could be difficult to make substantial near-term reductions. However, there are opportunities to meet environmental goals by slowing the accumulation of P in the landscape and by implementing measures that address the rapid transport pathway, such runoff from cropland, and the mobile stores, such as cropland with large soil-P reserves.

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“…Phosphorus is an important nutrient for agricultural production, an essential element for all living species, and a non-renewable resource on a human time scale (van Dijk et al, 2016).…”

Section: Environmental Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another important motivation for treatment of manures and digestate is the recovery of nutrients whose natural reserves are being depleted such as phosphorus and potassium (Lebuf et al, 2013;Drosg et al, 2015). Phosphate-rich rocks used for P fertiliser production are projected to become exhausted within the next few hundred years (van Dijk et al, 2016).…”

Section: Treatment Of Digestatementioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of nutrients from biogas digestate with biochar and clinoptilolite

Kocaturk

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Phosphorus flows and balances of the European Union Member States

Cited by 301 publications

References 64 publications

An Assessment of the Drivers and Barriers for the Deployment of Urban Phosphorus Recovery Technologies: A Case Study of The Netherlands

An Assessment of the Drivers and Barriers for the Deployment of Urban Phosphorus Recovery Technologies: A Case Study of The Netherlands

A Century of Legacy Phosphorus Dynamics in a Large Drainage Basin

Recovery of nutrients from biogas digestate with biochar and clinoptilolite

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