Recovery of phosphorus from waste streams was in focus at the first Nordic phosphorous conference in Hyllie, Sweden on 27-28 October 2016.
Associate Professor Kaj Thomsen and Center Coordinator Hanne Pernille Andersen from CERE attended the conference, and Kaj Thomsen presented a poster entitled “Struvite-K, sustainable recovery of pure phosphate from sewage sludge and biomass ash”, describing a new method for the recovery of phosphorous from sewage sludge and fly ash which he hopes to develop on a larger scale in the future.
Phosphorus is an indispensable, irreplaceable necessity for all life. At the same time it is a scarce and non-renewable resource, which is being wasted in huge amounts today at every stage of the value chain, while the Earth’s natural deposits are being depleted. But phosphorus can be recovered from waste, and a better utilization of phosphorus is a key point of the Circular Economy.
The idea behind the first Nordic phosphorous conference was to create a meeting place for the exchange of knowledge, experiences, best-practice and political attention locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
The European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform (ESPP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) gave their views on what it takes to ensure phosphorus resources in the future, as well as national authorities and companies from the Nordic countries that have technology and skills for improved phosphorus utilization.
Participants included academia, the Nordic countries’ water and waste water treatment organisations, industry and environmental authorities. Thus there was ample opportunity to make new contacts and discuss phosphorous recovery from different angles.