The new German Sewage Sludge Ordinance of 2017 obliges all operators of large wastewater treatment plants from 2029 onwards to recover phosphorus.This finite resource is an important component of plant fertilizers. This ordinance also applies to all Berlin sewage treatment plants. The 6-month project bePhor will help to prepare a recycling concept, which is technically and economically viable in the long term and adapted to the specific requirements of the Berlin sewage treatment plants.

Against this background, Berlin’s six wastewater treatment plants have to prepare the implementation of corresponding recovery units. After all, the phosphorus potential in the wastewater might cover around 65% of the mineral P fertilizer needs of Berlin and Brandenburg.

The 6-month project bePhor will help to prepare a decision-making basis for the development of a holistic recycling concept adapted to the specific requirements of Berlin’s wastewater treatment plants, which in the long term is technically and economically viable. The scenarios to be investigated include the integrated phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge and the downstream recovery from sewage sludge ash. The project addresses the question to what extent a technical and long term economically viable integration into the Berlin wastewater treatment plants is possible. The results will be evaluated in cooperation with experts from the Berliner Wasserbetriebe. In an external workshop, the preferred recovery concept will be presented and the exact requirements for the phosphorous recyclates will be defined. Furthermore, a consortium for the implementation phase will be established.