SuSanA's road map towards more sustainable sanitation practices

The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) is a network of over 100 multiand bilateral organisations, NGOs, businesses, governmental and research institutions active in the field of sustainable sanitation. The network was formed in 2007, initially mainly to support sustainable sanitation approaches for the UN International Year of Sanitation in 2008. After having set up a number of working groups, produced a website, several fact sheets and other documents it has now become clear that the partners wish to continue with the SuSanA work beyond 2009 as well. This paper introduces the network and its structure, its definition of sustainable sanitation, the goals and objectives of SuSanA and presents a road map for the network including the status of the twelve thematic working groups

Circular nutrient solutions for agriculture and wastewater : a review of technologies and practices

This paper summarizes key findings from a series of systematic reviews and comprehensive efforts to collate evidence and expert opinions on circular solutions for recovery and reuse of nutrients and carbon from different waste streams in the agriculture and wastewater sectors. We identify established and emerging approaches for transformation towards a more circular nutrient economy with relevance to SDGs 6 and 14. The paper cites the example of the Baltic Sea Region which has experienced decades of fertilizer overuse (1950s–1990s) and concomitant urban sources of excessive nutrients. Regulations and incentive policies combining the nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon cycles are necessary if circular nutrient technologies and practices are to be scaled up. Pricing chemical fertilizer at levels to reflect society’s call for circularity is a central challenge. Highlights • Development of a circular nutrient economy in the EU is reviewed. • The socio-economic value of organic waste products from agriculture & municipalities needs to increase. • Opportunities are found in the new EU Circular Economy Package & Fertilizing Products Regulations. • Further implementation is possible with the Common Agriculture Policy (nutrient management tool) and Waste Framework Directive for recycling. • The Baltic Sea Region case is explored being sensitive to eutrophication with ongoing international efforts to introduce nutrient circularity

Soil and Plant Responses to Phosphorus Inputs from Different Phytase-Associated Animal Diets

Publication history: Accepted - 4 January 2022; Published - 5 January 2022.The over-supplementation of animal feeds with phosphorus (P) within livestock-production systems leads to high rates of P excretion and thus to high P loads and losses, which negatively impact the natural environment. The addition of phytase to pig and poultry diets can contribute to reducing P excretion; however, cascading effects of phytase on plant–soil systems remain poorly understood. Here, we addressed how three different diets containing various levels of exogenous phytase, i.e., (1) no-phytase, (2) phytase (250 FTU), and (3) superdose phytase (500 FTU) for pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) and broilers (Gallus gallus domesticus) might affect P dynamics in two different plant–soil systems including comfrey (Symphytum uplandicum) and ryegrass (Lolium perenne). We found that differences in phytase supplementation significantly influenced total P content (%) of broiler litter and also pig slurry (although not significantly) as a result of dietary P content. P Use Efficiency (PUE) of comfrey and ryegrass plants was significantly higher under the intermediate ‘phytase’ dose (i.e., commercial dose of 250 FTU) when compared to ‘no-phytase’ and ‘superdose phytase’ associated with pig slurry additions. Soil P availability (i.e., water soluble P, WSP) in both comfrey and ryegrass mesocosms significantly decreased under the intermediate ‘phytase’ treatment following pig slurry additions. Dietary P content effects on P losses from soils (i.e., P leaching) were variable and driven by the type of organic amendment. Our study shows how commercial phytase levels together with higher dietary P contents in pig diets contributed to increase PUE and decrease WSP thus making the plant–soil system more P conservative (i.e., lower risks of P losses). Our evidence is that dietary effects on plant–soil P dynamics are driven by the availability of P forms (for plant uptake) in animal excretes and the type of organic amendment (pig vs. broiler) rather than plant species identity (comfrey vs. ryegrass).This work has received funding from the European Research Area Network (ERA-NET) co-funds on Sustainable Animal Production (SusAn) as part of the PEGaSus project (2817ERA02D) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK

Bridging Gaps in the Agricultural Phosphorus Cycle from an Animal Husbandry Perspective—The Case of Pigs and Poultry

Publication history: Accepted - 29 May 2018; Published online - 1 June 2018Since phosphorus (P) is an essential element for life, its usage and application across agricultural production systems requires great attention. Monogastric species such as pigs and poultry can significantly contribute to global food security but these animals remain highly dependent on the supply of mineral inorganic P in their feeds. Pig and poultry, which represent 70% of the global meat production, are also major P excretors and thus represent important sources of environmental P inputs. Balancing the P cycle within farming systems is crucial to achieve P sustainable and resilient livestock production. Therefore, the interconnection of animal feed, livestock farming, manure, and soil/aquatic ecosystems requires multidisciplinary approaches to improve P management. With regard to a sustainable agricultural P cycle, this study addresses aspects of feeding strategies and animal physiology (e.g., phase feeding, P conditioning, liquid feeding, phytase supplementation, genetics), soil agroecosystems (e.g., P cycling, P losses, P gains), reuse and recycling (e.g., manure, slaughter waste), measures of farmers’ economic performance (e.g., bio-economic models), and P governance/policy instruments (e.g., P quota, P tax). To reconcile the economic and ecological sustainability of animal husbandry, the strategic objective of future research will be to provide solutions for a sufficient supply of high-quality animal products from resource-efficient and economically competitive agro-systems which are valued by society and preserve soil and aquatic ecosystems.: This work was partly funded by the Leibniz Science Campus Phosphorus Research Rostock and has received funding from the European Research Association Networks (ERA-NETs) Cofunds Sustainable Animal Production (SusAn) as part of the PEGaSus project (2817ERA02D). The Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) provided own matched funding. Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University covered some of the expenditures for running the pig experiments. The publication of this article was funded by the Open Access Fund of the Leibniz Association and the Open Access Fund of the Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN)

Towards “Sustainable” Sanitation: Challenges and Opportunities in Urban Areas

While sanitation is fundamental for health and wellbeing, cities of all sizes face growing challenges in providing safe, affordable and functional sanitation systems that are also sustainable. Factors such as limited political will, inadequate technical, financial and institutional capacities and failure to integrate safe sanitation systems into broader urban development have led to a persistence of unsustainable systems and missed opportunities to tackle overlapping and interacting urban challenges. This paper reviews challenges associated with providing sanitation systems in urban areas and explores ways to promote sustainable sanitation in cities. It focuses on opportunities to stimulate sustainable sanitation approaches from a resource recovery perspective, generating added value to society while protecting human and ecosystem health. We show how, if integrated within urban development, sustainable sanitation has great potential to catalyse action and contribute to multiple sustainable development goals

The circular economy potential of urban organic waste streams in low- and middle-income countries

There is growing recognition of the potential environmental and socio-economic benefits of applying a circular economy approach to urban organic waste management through resource recovery. Decisions around planning and implementing circular urban waste systems require estimates of the quantity of resources available in waste streams and their potential market value. However, most case-studies have so-far been conducted in high-income countries and cities in low- and middle-income countries have different challenges when developing a circular economy. The present paper explores these issues by estimating the potential for resource recovery from organic waste streams in the context of low- and middle-income countries, illustrated in Kampala, Uganda. A simplified material flow analysis approach is used to track the transformation of waste streams, namely; faecal sludge, sewage sludge and organic solid waste into the resource recovery products biogas, solid fuel, black soldier fly larvae and compost. Findings indicate that even at current rates of waste collection, the three waste streams combined could annually yield 135,000 tonnes of solid fuel or 39.6 million Nm3 of biogas or 15,000 tonnes of black soldier fly larvae or 108,000 tonnes of compost. Potential revenues from the products could range from 5.1 million USD for compost to 47 million USD for biogas, annually. This case study demonstrates how complex information describing urban waste in specific cities can be presented to facilitate decision-making and planning by stakeholders. By highlighting different resource recovery opportunities, application of this approach could provide an incentive for more sustainable urban sanitation and waste management systems.QC 20210531UrbanCircl