Carter, L.J. orcid.org/0000-0002-1146-7920, Dennis, S., Allen, K. orcid.org/0009-0008-8569-2646 et al. (11 more authors) (2023) Mitigating contaminant-driven risks for the safe expansion of the agricultural─sanitation circular economy in an urbanizing world. ACS ES&T Water, 4 (4). pp. 1166-1176. ISSN 2690-0637
Abstract
The widespread adoption of an agricultural circular economy requires the recovery of resources such as water, organic matter, and nutrients from livestock manure and sanitation. While this approach offers many benefits, we argue this is not without potential risks to human and environmental health that largely stem from the presence of contaminants in the recycled resources (e.g., pharmaceuticals, pathogens). We discuss context specific challenges and solutions across the three themes: (1) contaminant monitoring; (2) collection transport and treatment; and (3) regulation and policy. We advocate for the redesign of sanitary and agricultural management practices to enable safe resource reuse in a proportionate and effective way. In populous urban regions with access to sanitation provision, processes can be optimized using emergent technologies to maximize removal of contaminant from excreta prior to reuse. Comparatively, in regions with limited existing capacity for conveyance of excreta to centralized treatment facilities, we suggest efforts should focus on creation of collection facilities (e.g., pit latrines) and decentralized treatment options such as composting systems. Overall, circular economy approaches to sanitation and resource management offer a potential solution to a pressing challenge; however, to ensure this is done in a safe manner, contaminant risks must be mitigated.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2024 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This publication is licensed under CC-BY 4.0. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Keywords: | Food; Immunology; Impurities; Soils; Wastewater |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL NE/N007514/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Apr 2024 15:13 |
Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2024 15:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acsestwater.3c00803 |
Related URLs: | |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:211713 |