Should the Sludge Hit the Farm? – How Chemo-Social Relations Affect Policy Efforts to Circulate Phosphorus in Sweden

Linus Ekman Burgman,Björn Wallsten

doi:10.1016/j.spc.2021.03.011

Linus Ekman Burgman, Björn Wallsten

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.03.011

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Abstract

This article discerns why the substantial political efforts to increase circulation of nutrients in sewage sludge, and phosphorus in particular, have shown such meager results over the last twenty years in Sweden. We have analyzed stakeholders’ statements of opinions to four government-initiated inquiries, to decipher the chemo-social relations between stakeholders and phosphorus, and how these relations have transformed over time and made a difference in the policy process. In our analysis, we found five different relations: 1) a metabolic, 2) a purity, 3) a nutritional, 4) a marketable, and 5) a geopolitical. These relations connect actors, phosphorus and politics in different ways, and obstruct policymaking by creating tensions between political objectives, values and stakeholder positions. We observe how the extraction of phosphorus as a singular, marketable element to be sold for profit reasons on a global market, is increasingly favored in comparison to local eco-cycling of nutrients between farmers and consumers. We see this as a consequence of that the circular economy as a concept has replaced eco-cycle efforts in the Swedish policy debate. We conclude that if circular economy-initiatives are to be successfully implemented, they need to be informed by the current configuration of material flows that they wish to transform as well as the political implications of their efforts. So far, this has not been the case regarding sewage sludge in Sweden.

Highlights

In recent years, the ‘circular economy’ has increasingly been argued for as a conceptual model for how to re-organize resource flows in economies all over the world
To understand the difficulties to agree on a common legal framework for circulation of phosphorus from wastewater effluents, this study focuses on national Swedish policy efforts regarding sewage sludge management
In our analysis of the material, we categorized five main chemosocial relations to illustrate how eco-cyclical and circular economy thinking interrelate in the case of sewage sludge phosphorus. These five were: 1) a metabolic relation, in which phosphorus connects food consumption and production, 2) a purity relation, in which phosphorus takes part in wastewater treatment processes, 3) a nutritional relation, in which phosphorus is lumped together with other nutrients and sources, 4) a market relation, in which phosphorus is a potential competitor in global trade, and 5) a geopolitical relation, in which phosphorus invokes acts of solidarity and calls for national self-sufficiency

Summary

Introduction

The ‘circular economy’ has increasingly been argued for as a conceptual model for how to re-organize resource flows in economies all over the world. The commission strongly emphasizes increased recycling of domestic phosphorus and has especially targeted sewage sludge as one such deposit (Lipiñska, 2018). Implementing initiatives to this cause has shown to be difficult (see Ranta et al, 2018). Launched to outline how all land application of sewage sludge could be banned and replaced by extraction through other means. It delivered two alternatives, one allowing agricultural use and the other one not

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