Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 1: Current State and Historical Developments

Abstract

Current phosphorus (P) use in European countries is highly dependent on mineral P imports and not sustainably managed. In order to identify and implement measures for sustainable P management, a comprehensive understanding of national P flows and stocks and their temporal dynamics is essential. We conduct a substance flow analysis (SFA) of the Swiss P system of the year 2015, and study the dynamics of the national P system by looking into its development since 1989. Furthermore, we investigate how political-legislative interventions affected the P system during this period. The results show that between 1989 and 2015, the P efficiency in Swiss agriculture increased from 59% to 94%, mainly due to a considerable reduction of fertilization in the agricultural subsystem. At the same time, Switzerland's P import dependency decreased from 33% to 24% between 1989 and 2002 because of a reduction of mineral fertilizer import and use. Between 2002 and 2015, the import dependency stagnated because further improvements in P use efficiency in agriculture were outweighed by a decrease of P recycling and an increase of P losses in the waste management system. By embedding these temporal dynamics in their political-legislative context, we found that top-down interventions such as incentives for a balanced nutrient budget in agriculture, restrictions of the use of animal by-products in the agri-food system or the ban of direct sewage sludge recycling in agriculture significantly affected and shaped the national P system. Our analysis provides profound quantitative and qualitative insights into past and present P management in Switzerland and is followed by part 2 of the paper, where we analyze possible future pathways of P management.

Main Dimensions in the Building of the Circular Supply Chain: A Literature Review

“…Consequently, circular supply chain (CSC) promotes transformation from a linear to a circular model of flow of products [19]. The aim would be to provide a coherent framework for redesigning systems to enable a restorative economy, based on a benefit from the flow of resources and products over their lifetime, limiting the material input to society [20][21][22]. Thus, environmental management positively influences operational performance [23].…”

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

“…Since in Switzerland the ban of direct application of sewage sludge on agricultural land in 2006 led to an increase in P losses via mono-or co-incineration of sewage sludge, the Swiss government amended the Swiss Ordinance on Avoidance and Disposal of Waste (VVEA) to re-create the P cycles between the waste sector and the agri-food system [1]. The VVEA requires the technical recovery and recycling of P from municipal wastewater, sewage sludge, or sewage sludge ash and the re-utilization of P in meat and bone meal as of 2026 [35].…”

“…The assessment of the quantitative implications of the scenarios for the Swiss P system draws on the methodological approach from part 1 [1], i.e., substance flow analysis (SFA). See part 1 for a detailed description of our SFA procedure.…”

“…Sustainable phosphorus (P) management is a multi-faceted challenge that is affected by a variety of factors including policy interventions and consumption trends, e.g., in fertilizer use, and technological innovations [1]. Hence, in order to analyse future pathways of P systems, it is crucial to consider the transition towards a circular economy (CE) of P as a socio-technical project and apply an integrative perspective that takes into account both socio-economic and material aspects of P management [2].…”

Sustainable Mineral Resource Management—Insights into the Case of Phosphorus

“…. Circular principles for moving toward a circular phosphorus economy based on [22] categorizing [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39].…”