Rotterdam, 10. - 11. October 2018: Phos4You at the waterboard Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard and the mono-incinerators HVC and SNB
The project partnership met for two days to foster their joint work. The first day focussed on different regional approaches concerning sewage sludge management. The second day was dedicated to circular economy and especially to the integration of recovered phosphorus materials in the value chains.
Experts from mono incinerators, universities, waste managers, private enterprises and research institutes presented state of the art and perspectives concerning sludge management in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany:
Colleagues from HVC and SNB presented experiences of sludge management and the choice of P-recovery pathways in the Netherlands as well as results of weekly monitoring of sewage sludge ash quality in regard with phosphorus recovery.
The example from Switzerland was given from the University of Northwest Switzerland FHNW: Via a web-conference presentation, the overall planning for phosphorus recovery from incineration ashes were shown. Especially interesting were the first results from interviews with operators of mono-incineration plants within a Swiss incineration inventory. The presentation of ZAB Bazenheid completed the Swiss view. Here, Meat and Bone Meal and sewage sludge are co-incinerated for integration of the recovered phosphorus from the ashes into fertilizers.
For the Emscher Lippe region in Germany, a first version of a Decision-Support-Tool based on sewage sludge management is being developed to help the selection of a phosphorus recovery technology. The French research institute IRSTEA presented the findings that were elaborated jointly with the German water board Lippeverband. An expert from Remondis Aqua showed the results of the phosphorus recovery process Tetraphos® that is applied on sewage sludge ashes from the Emscher Lippe region.
Especially exciting was the visit of the mono-incineration plant of HVC in Dordrecht:
Being a company for sustainable waste management and energy production, HVC has two large waste incineration plants in Alkmaar and Dordrecht. In Dordrecht, there is a plant to incinerate waste and a plant to incinerate sewage sludge. In 2017 288,000 ton of waste, consisting of household waste as well as waste from companies, have been incinerated reaching a heating value of 11.3 GJ/tonne. The total capacity of the sewage sludge incineration plant is currently about 56.000 tonne organic matter/year in appr. 8.000 operating hours, corresponding to about 378,500 tonnes sludge. The dewatered sludge is collected by trucks from about 50 waste water treatment plants. As the dry matter content is relatively low, an integrated drying step is required.
The second day started with a key note from the Dutch Nutrient Platform to highlight the Dutch engagement towards nutrient recycling.
Two further key notes illustrated possible phosphorus recycling pathways: Fertilizers Europe, the European federation of fertilizer manufacturers presented expectations of the fertilizer industries towards recovered phosphorus products and market chance of secondary raw phosphorus. To complete the picture, an association for organic farming in Germany, Bioland e.V., presented the expectations of the organic farming sector towards recovered phosphorus materials and processes.
In the following working sessions, user requirements were presented and discussed to showcase at least one recycling pathway for each Phos4You recovered material. In the discussion, it was very helpful that representatives from the fertilizer industries were involved to give concrete feedback on the partners’ and project’s approach.
For details of the P recovery processes and their outcome materials, please find Phos4You factsheets under the tab "Project Documents".
The working group meeting ended with a great view on the river Maas in sunshine.
