NextGen aims to boost sustainability and bring new market dynamics throughout the water cycle at the 10 demo cases and beyond. Main objective of WP1 of the project is to provide evidence to demonstrate the feasibility of innovative technological solutions supporting a circular economy transition in the water sector. Through activities to close the water, energy and materials cycles in 10 demo cases, Work package 1 (WP1) will provide the necessary data to assess the benefits and drawbacks of the technologies (WP2), but also to provide evidence to convince stakeholders on their implementation (WP3), while overcoming the social and governance barriers and creating new business models to promote the implementation of those solutions (WP5 & WP6). This report describes the baseline conditions of each of the sites involved in the project considering water, energy and material cycles. The baseline of the 10 sites (Altenrhein, Athens, Braunschweig, Bucharest, Costa Brava, Filton Airfield, Gotland, La Trappe, Spernal and Westland region) will be used at the end of the project so to define the improvement and/or drawbacks and benefits associated to the implementation of the NextGen solutions. This report corresponds to the first deliverable of the WP1, envisaged for June 2019, and complements the information collected for milestone MS3 on Methodology and specific objectives defined for each case study. All the information of this report has been collected by the Cross-cutting Technology Group (CTG) Leaders since July 2018 through regular discussions with the different case study representatives and through different templates that have been prepared and compiled. Baseline of each case study has been defined for each of the nexus of NextGen project using key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to water, energy and materials. Potential interlinkages between case studies are also described in this document, aiming at increasing the uptake and impact of the NextGen solutions.

Whether or not there will be a phosphorus (P) peak within decades, centuries or millennia, (Cordell and White, 2011; Scholz and Wellmer, 2013) one thing is for sure – phosphorus is a limited and, in its function as a nutrient, an essential and irreplaceable resource (Asimov, 1959; Smil, 2000; Filippelli, 2008). The debate on P limitation is often mentioned as motivation to foster activities regarding P recovery and recycling. The ambition of the European Commission (EC) to establish a circular economy in Europe goes far beyond that and is not primarily motivated by limitations of certain raw materials. From the European perspective and in the light of having just one small mine in Finland, the geopolitics and economic vulnerability are issues to be taken seriously. Europe is highly dependent on phosphorus imports (De Ridder et al., 2012) as reflected by the quantities given in figure 1. In contrast to the above mentioned issues, the waste and dissipation of phosphorus that exists in developed countries may lead to a different conclusion. The global resource efficiency for P along the supply chain from mine to fork is only 20% (Schröder et al., 2010). Given the figures of 225 million tons P rock globally mined in 2013 (USGS, 2015) and assuming that 90% of the mined P is used for food production, only 45 million tons of the mined quantity finally ends up in form of food on our tables. So, what can we do to increase the resource efficiency of P? Recently, the implementation of a coherent package of nutrient management strategies and measures to close the European P cycle has been proposed – the 5R strategy (Withers et al., 2015). The five R’s are Realign P inputs, Reduce P losses to waters, Recycle P in bio-resources, Recover P from waste and finally Redefine our food system. So, recovery and recycling can play an important role in improving resource efficiency and sustainable nutrient management. Although, there are various relevant waste streams carrying huge quantities of phosphorus dissolved in liquids or fixed in solids like in manure or organic waste, the focus of P-REX was laid upon P recovery and recycling from wastewater and sewage sludge.

Being one of the key nutrients, there is no doubt about the importance of phosphorus for all life on Earth. This element is even considered “life’s bottleneck”, as Isaac Asimov, one of the brilliant minds of the last century already stated in 1959 in his essay of the same title. Its importance as plant nutrient is emphasized by the huge amount of about one million metric tons of mineral phosphorus annually imported into Europe to sustain good harvests. Since phosphorus is a limited fossil element and given the strong dependency of Europe on phosphorus imports, its extensive recovery from “secondary deposits” is of paramount importance and follows the principles of the European Roadmap for Resource Efficiency. No matter, if there would be a phosphorus peak in the future or even physical scarcity, pure reason alone should force us to secure this vital resource not only for ourselves but also for future generations. Scarcity itself is not a problem of the future, but an actual thread to many people’s life whose cannot effort fertilizers to grow enough food for themselves. They know the essential or real demand of phosphorus humans need to survive, whereas in Europe we can afford luxury uptake. The availability of phosphorus is dramatically dependent on economical drivers. Looking at the current supply-chain efficiency of phosphorus, only about 20% of mined phosphate rock is finally consumed in form of food (Schröder et al. 2010). Most of the precious element is lost on its way from mine to fork. However, phosphorus does not disappear and can, unlike oil, be recycled once used. In developed countries with proper sanitation and wastewater treatment, the wastewater stream represents a relevant phosphorus reserve. In Germany, more than 50% of the annually imported mineral phosphorus destined to be used as fertilizer (about 120,000 metric tons) could be substituted by recovered phosphorus from the wastewater stream if it were recycled completely. Various technologies have been developed in recent years to tap into this secondary resource. They might also be applicable for other material flows like manure and digestate. The traditional application of sewage sludge in agriculture was the dominating recycling path in the past, but is increasingly refused due to concerns about pollutants being harmful for the environment and public health. Technological alternatives are about to contribute to close the phosphorus cycle again (Kabbe 2013). Although some of these techniques are already feasible, they still need to be implemented onto the market. Three waste material flows, sewage sludge, manure and digestate are all alternatives to industrial fertilizers and compete for the same limited land area. Thus, only solutions that safeguard human health and the environment are viable resulting in a driver for wide-spread application of innovative alternatives when direct valorization on arable land falls short. For successful market implementation, new technologies and their resulting products need to be proven capable and feasible. Within the European project P-REX, novel and available technical solutions for phosphorus recovery and recycling will be demonstrated in full-scale. Their performance and feasibility will be systematically assessed and validated, as well as the quality of obtained recycling products with focus on plant-availability and eco-toxicity. Environmental impacts (LCA) and costs (LCC) will be calculated based on these data. Together with the analysis of the legal framework and existing market barriers and market potentials for novel recycling technologies and their products, strategies and recommendations will be developed for efficient and wide-spread implementation of phosphorus recovery with regards to specific regional conditions. A first overview of legal, societal and market aspects has been elaborated within the first project year and was discussed in the stakeholder workshop “Recycled Phosphorus Fertilizer- Market Chances and Requirements” in Podebrady (CZ) in September 2013. The finalized report (A. Nättorp et al, 2013) is available for download at the project’s website: www.p-rex.eu. Stakeholder workshops in different European regions will be organized in 2014 to ensure the involvement of all relevant stakeholder perspectives and regional conditions and needs. Especially the end-user perspectives (plant operators, fertilizer industry, crop farmers) need to be considered more in the overall discussion in the future. P-REX is aiming to increase the European phosphorus recycling rate from municipal wastewater by closing gaps between science, policy and practice, as it was a key message of the First European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference in March 2013: waste less, recycle more and cooperate smart (www.phosphorusplatform.eu). Besides wastewater and sewage sludge, manure and digestate bear substantial quantities of phosphorus for recovery and possible synergies just wait to be applied.

Groundwater exploitation in India has increased rapidly over the last 50 years as reflected by the growth of the number of groundwater abstraction structures (from 3.9 million in 1951 to 18.5 million in 1990) and shallow tube wells (from 3000 in 1951 to 8.5 million in 1990) (Muralidharan, 1998; Singh & Singh, 2002).Today groundwater is the source for more than 85 % of India’s rural domestic water requirements, 50 % of urban water and more than 50 % of irrigation demand. The increase in demand in the last 50 years has led to declining water tables in many parts of the country. For example, 15% of the assessment units (Blocks/Mandals/Talukas) have groundwater extraction in excess of the net annual recharge (Central Ground Water Board, 2007). According to Rodell et al. (2009), the extent of groundwater depletion between 2002 and 2008 was 109 km3, which is about half the capacity of India’s total surface-water reservoirs.