Challenges and potential of phosphorous recovery – the funding measure RePhoR presents its projects

As part of the German strategy for phosphorus recovery, the wastewater sector faces wide-ranging adjustments in treatment plant operation and imminent investments in plant technology and infrastructure. The BMBF funding measure RePhoR RePhoR is addressing this topic with 7 research projects spread throughout Germany and which focus particularly on the development of suitable processes for phosphorus recovery. But how can wastewater treatment plants prepare collectively for this changeover? Which technology is preferable under which circumstances? How can the sludge treatment and further processing be optimized for all plants involved (investments, energy requirements, logistics)? Are there more suitable recovery strategies in addition to recovery from sewage sludge ash? And how can other valuable materials such as nitrogen be integrated into the recovery strategy? The SATELLITE  research project deals with these questions and accompanies an inter-municipal network of wastewater treatment plants on its way to phosphorus recovery. A short video portraying the SATELLITE project is available on here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8fQ6Uy5XNw)

The videos presenting all 7 projects are now being released piece by piece and can be watched on YouTube angesehen werden. Further information on the SATELLITE project can be found on the project’s website project website and the website RePhoR.

RePhoR’s status report, which will be published in June 2025, will give an overview over partial results of all projects.