The Dutch Waterboard, Vallei & Veluwe, recently officially opened Europe’s first commercial Nutrient Recovery Facility, in partnership with Ostara Nutrient Recovery Technologies and Eliquo Water & Energy as part of the transformation of their Amersfoort Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) into an Energy and Nutrient Recovery Factory.
While that all sounds very interesting, what exactly IS an Energy and Nutrient Recovery Factory? An Energy and Nutrient Recovery Factory recovers phosphorous and nitrogen to create a high value fertiliser product as part of the bid to stimulate the use of recovered products from waste streams to be able to support the principles of a circular economy.
Wastewater is now regarded as a sustainable source of energy and nutrients, which is actually good news for all water because it means that less freshwater will be used for these purposes, leaving more freshwater available for drinking water purposes and for other uses such as food preparation, personal hygiene, cooking etc.
Energy and Nutrient Recovery Factories are also very good news for the environment, as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said:
“With Ostara, municipalities now have a solution to protect waterways, and wastewater treatment plants can essentially play a vital role in tackling point source pollution, without having to compromise other community needs. The Ostara solution provides a cost-effective option for managing nutrients, and creating a high value product that further protects the environment. The environment does not have to be sacrificed for the economy; Ostara’s technology provides a closed-loop solution that creates worth from waste.”
While this may be more about creating fertiliser products, in my mind anything that makes use of wastewater and ensures that it does not pollute surrounding land, rivers, lakes and possibly underwater sources and leaves more freshwater available for other uses is a great innovation in my book.
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