Abstract
A dynamic development of sewer networks and municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) leads to the formation a large amounts of municipal sewage sludges (MSSs) which have to be disposed. One of the MSS disposal practices is thermal conversion in mono-incineration plants. Nowadays, there are 11 such installations in Poland, with the total capacity 160,300 Mg d.w. of MSSs per year. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of wastes generated in Polish MSS mono-incineration plants. As a consequence of MSSs incineration, various types of waste are generated including, for example, bottom and fly ash, dust or solid waste. The most valuable waste is sewage sludge ash (SSA), which can be used in other industries, as fertilizer or construction sectors. In the circular economy (CE) model, SSA should be treated as a secondary source of raw materials, such as phosphates (replacement of nutrients by P-rich ashes in fertilizers) or sand (replacement of sand by ashes in construction materials). Current practices of SSA management include landfilling, recovery at WWTPs or management by external companies (recovery, disposal or collection). To preserve the utility value of SSA, it should be stored selectively, and then directed to raw materials recovery. This creates the possibility of turning waste into a secondary resource, after meeting certain conditions which depend on which product the waste is directed to. Moreover, this waste management practice is recommended in the Polish documents regarding the usage of SSA, and it can strengthen the accomplishment of the European Green Deal, which is the newest roadmap for making the EU’s economy sustainable and circular.
Highlights
Nowadays, sustainable management of waste generated in municipal and industrial sectors [1] is required as part of the transformation towards a circular economy (CE) in the European Union (EU)
In Poland there are 11 mono-incineration plants of municipal sewage sludges (MSSs). Most of these plants were established in recent years with co-financing from EU funds, while the others have been modernized thanks to support from the EU
The recent investments in the Polish water and sewage sector as the construction and modernization of the MSS incineration plants have contributed to the creation of a significant amount of hazardous and non-hazardous waste streams, such as bottom ash, fly ash, dust or solid waste, which must be managed in accordance with national and European regulations
Summary
Sustainable management of waste generated in municipal and industrial sectors [1] is required as part of the transformation towards a circular economy (CE) in the European Union (EU). The special interest of CE implementation in wastewater sector is dedicated to the possible use of waste generated in WWTPs as a source of secondary raw materials in other branches of industry. This creates the possibility of turning waste into secondary resources, after meeting certain conditions which depend on which products the waste is directed to.
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