Cadmium in sewage sludge in a Swedish region: sources and reduction opportunities

Abstract

To create a more sustainable future, one of the Swedish government’s aims is to close the eco-cycles between urban consumption areas and arable land. Increasing the use of sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs) is one method of achieving this goal. However, the use of sewage sludge is often prohibited due to its high concentrations of cadmium. As a consequence, large amounts of sewage sludge are deposited each year in landfills. This disposal has become more expensive for local authorities due to a new deposit tax introduced in the year 2000. Based on a survey of cadmium sources to MWTPs in a Swedish region this paper focuses on opportunities local authorities in Sweden have to influence the occurrence of cadmium in the sewage sludge. The results from the study show that cadmium in sewage sludge originates from diffuse sources, which are hard for local authorities to influence by direct means. This is most obvious for sources of cadmium in wastewater from households, which causes about one-third of the inflow of cadmium to MWTPs. Thus, the local authorities’ possibilities are, in general, still restricted to downstream actions (such as disconnecting identified industrial sources and reconstructing the sewage system to further separate collection of wastewater and storm water). Local authorities could also implement changes in the process at the MWTP or an extended treatment of the sewage sludge generated. Nonetheless, these possible measures do not provide a sustainable solution to the cadmium issue since the origins of the sources remain. Hence, long-term strategies — outside of the scope of local authorities — need to focus on a general decrease of cadmium in society. However, increased knowledge about the distribution among different sources of cadmium to MWTPs may encourage local authorities to establish priorities for measures that will improve the quality of the sewage sludge.