Abstract
Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) require an urgent transition from a linear to a circular economy operation/design concept with a consequent resource recovery and more sustainable waste management. Natural resources have to be preserved, and wastes have to become an opportunity for recovering resources and materials (water reuse, energy, sludge reuse). However, the transition toward a circular economy is a complex and long process due to the existence of technical, economic, social and regulatory barriers. These existing barriers are critical challenges for a modern and sustainable WWTP concept. The recovery of resources must be considered a strategic target from the earliest process-design phase. In this context, the European Union’s Horizon 2020 project “Achieving wider uptake of water-smart solutions—WIDER UPTAKE” aims to overcome the existing barriers (technological, regulatory, organizational, social and economic) toward the transition from a linear to a circular economy model for WWTPs. This study is aimed at increasing the awareness of the existing barriers to a circular economy and summarizes the key contributions of the WIDER UPTAKE project in terms of water reuse, sludge reuse and nutrient recovery.
Highlights
In recent years, huge industrialization and development of urban areas produced a significant exploitation of natural resources, entailing a consequent production of large amounts of waste [1]
It is expected that the application of circular economy concepts would help to avoid severe freshwater stresses, while it would contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to sludge disposal, which are estimated at close to 40% of the total GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) [9]
From the juridical point of view, the WIDER UPTAKE project aims toward two different goals: (i) “de lege lata”, to obtain clarity in the allocation of legislative competence at the European, national and local levels through a deep analysis of the problematic issues arising in the described multilevel framework; and (ii) “de lege ferenda”, to suggest a set of new legal and economic tools of regulation for the common market aimed at the growth of the industrial symbiosis between water reuse and sewage-sludge treatment
Summary
Huge industrialization and development of urban areas produced a significant exploitation of natural resources, entailing a consequent production of large amounts of waste [1]. The contribution of the present paper is to critically assess the existing regulation framework and the ongoing policy trend; analyze the minimum quality standard required, as well as the existing bottlenecks and barriers that should be overcome; and address how the WIDER UPTAKE can sustain this transition for the successful implementation of water-smart solutions in the wastewater sector. Water and sewage sludge reuse policies are basic pillars of the European Union 2019 Green Deal [27] and 2020 New Circular Economy Action Plan [28], a concerted strategy aimed at a progressive, yet inevitable transition to a climate-neutral, resource-efficient, and sustainable competitive economy In this landscape, an overview of current European and Italian legislation on water reuse and sewage-sludge management and treatment shows two main features: a remarkable complexity and a trend of increasing evolution. The European Green Deal strengthens a market-oriented philosophy in environmental policies [32,33]
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