NSU Research Contributions
Title : Determining the potential role of the waste sector in decoupling of phosphorus: A comprehensive review of national scale substance flow analyses
Authors : Shupa Rahman, Rubel Biswas Chowdhury, Nidhi Gloria D’Costa, Nick Milne, Muhammed Bhuiyan, Mohammad Sujauddin
Abstract : This study, the first of its kind, presents a comprehensive assessment of national scale phosphorus (P) flow in the waste sector with particular focus on P recovery. The largest inflow of P in waste stream is seen in China (89,124kt), with the next largest inflow, the USA, being significantly less at 431kt. Countries through east Asia and western Europe tend to show moderate inflows, e.g. Japan (131.66kt), France (115.70kt), UK (76kt) and South Korea (65.40kt), while northern European nations have very low P inflows, Denmark (10kt), Sweden (10kt) and Norway (6.70kt). The most efficient recovery rate of P from the waste sector is seen to be in Finland (67.50%). Denmark (53.70%), France (47.80%) and UK (47.40%), all have commendable recovery tracks. Even though USA has the second largest inflow of P, their recovery track is one of the lowest (2kt), making its recycling efficiency very minute (0.50%), while with a recovery of 3,14878,700kt P, this is 39% for China. This study has also calculated the substitutability of each country's recycled P waste in minimizing extraction of virgin P resource/importing P, as found to be the highest in China (49.40). The UK and Sweden have the second and third highest substitutability of 26.10 and 19.80 respectively, while the Netherlands (1.40) and USA (0.05) have the lowest. This study can be used as a guideline for future research on P recovery from waste because it provides a comprehensive blueprint of P flow in this sector and prescribes a general framework for better recovery.
| Journal : Resources, Conservation & Recycling | Volume : In Press | Year : 2019 | Issue : |
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