Global Phosphorus Recovery for Agricultural Reuse

Abstract. Phosphorus is is an element necessary for the development of crops and is thus commonly applied as fertilizer to sustain agricultural production. It occurs naturally at indefinite quantities, of uncertain quality, in phosphate rock formations, but also concentrates itself in urban and livestock wastewater wherefrom it is often lost as a pollutant. Recovering phosphorus from wastewater to partially meet agricultural demand can contribute to tackling both phosphorus pollution as well natural resource depletion. Here we show that humans discharge a maximum of 3.7 Mt P into wastewater thereby potentially satisfying 20 % of the global fertilizer demand. Provided 2015 market dynamics, however, we conclude that only 4 % of this throughput is technologically and economically recoverable while rock phosphate products exist. Nonetheless, through this recovery many wastewater treatment facilities can contribute to creating sustainable communities as well as protecting the environment, while reducing their own operational cost.