Researchers offer help on prioritisation of resource recovery

UKWIR has published research on the recovery of resources from wastewater, with recommendations to focus on readily available opportunities.

In its report: Response to National Bioresources Strategy - Prioritisation of Resource Recovery Opportunities, UKWIR said Water UK’s Long-Term Bioresources Strategy for England had revealed a need to align the “priority resources to be recovered from wastewater and bioresources” and recommended alignment on this across the UK and Ireland.

UKWIR shortlisted existing opportunities such as reuse of final effluent water, processing biosolids and maximisation of uses for other outputs including grit, ash and heat. It concluded also that high priority should go to resources where the technology to extract them was mature and implementable, but where regulation and market preparation were incomplete.

UKWIR’s recommended short list of priority resources to recover from wastewater included: fats, oils and greases; phosphorus and ammonia; carbon dioxide from biomass (alongside biomethane); and cellulose. It also advised engagement with proposed markets for fuels formed from thermal treatment of waste solids such as biochar, hydrochar, biocrude and hydrogen.

It went on to propose close monitoring of positions on hydrogen use in the UK and Ireland to identify the implications for the wastewater treatment asset base of any “national-level shifts away from methane”.

• A project led by AtkinsRéalis has developed a digital tool which it claims will improve the prioritisation of resources to be recovered from the treatment of wastewater and sewage sludge. AtkinsRéalis was appointed by UKWIR to develop the resource recovery tool and has worked with Cranfield University and CIWEM to produce it.

The tool, according to AtkinsRéalis, “will ensure water companies can make more informed decisions about the priority of materials they could be recovering from wastewater and sewage sludge.” It emphasised the tool’s importance in the move to exploit valuable components in wastewater to improve sustainability and to develop income streams.