Amplifying
Progress toward Multiple Development Goals
through Resource Recovery from Sanitation
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Abstract
The United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
recognize that current sanitation gaps must be closed to better serve
those without access to safely managed systems (Target 6.2: universal
sanitation coverage) and those connected to sewers without wastewater
treatment (Target 6.3: halving the proportion of untreated wastewater).
Beyond mitigating environmental and health concerns, implementing
resource recovery sanitation systems could simultaneously improve
the availability of agricultural nutrients (SDG 2) and household energy
(SDG 7). This study estimates the potential for global, regional,
and country-level resource recovery to impact nutrient and household
electricity use through 2030. We distinguish impacts from newly installed
sanitation systems (to achieve universal coverage), newly treated
wastewater systems (to halve the proportion of untreated wastewater),
and existing system replacement, while also considering urban and
rural disparities and spatial colocation of nutrients with agricultural
needs. This work points toward country-specific strategies for deriving
the greatest benefit from sanitation investments while also identifying
overarching trends to guide international research efforts. Globally,
potential nutrient gains are an order of magnitude larger than electricity
(a small fraction of total energy), and considerable impacts are possible
in the least-developed countries, six of which could double or offset
all projected nutrient and electricity use through newly installed
sanitation systems