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Environmental performances of production and land application of sludge-based phosphate fertilizers—a life cycle assessment case study

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Abstract

Phosphorus (P) is a non-renewable resource extracted from phosphate rock to produce agricultural fertilizers. Since P is essential for life, it is important to preserve this resource and explore alternative sources of P to reduce its criticality. This study aimed to assess whether fertilizing with sludge-based phosphate fertilizers (SBPF) can be a suitable alternative to doing so with fertilizers produced from phosphate rock. Environmental impacts of production and land application of SBPF from four recovery processes were compared to those of two reference scenarios: triple super phosphate (TSP) and sewage sludge. To avoid bias when comparing scenarios, part of the environmental burden of wastewater treatment is allocated to sludge production. The CML-IA method was used to perform life cycle impact assessment. Results highlighted that production and land application of SBPF had higher environmental impacts than those of TSP due to the large amounts of energy and reactants needed to recover P, especially when sludge had a low P concentration. Certain environmental impacts of production and land application of sewage sludge were similar to those of SBPF. Sensitivity analysis conducted for cropping systems highlighted variability in potential application rates of sewage sludge or SBPF. Finally, because they contain lower contents of heavy metals than sewage sludge or TSP, SBPF are of great interest, but they require more mineral fertilizers to supplement their fertilization than sewage sludge. Thus, SBPF have advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered, since they may influence their use within fertilization practices.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by Agence Française pour la Biodiversité (AFB) (French Agency for Biodiversity). The authors kindly thank their colleagues Jean-Pierre Canler and Guillermo Baquerizo from the REVERSAAL Research Unit and Marie-Line Daumer from the OPAALE Research Unit at IRSTEA for providing LCI data on the WWTP and the P recovery processes. The authors would like to thank Michael Corson for proofreading the English of this paper as well as the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Irstea, Université Clermont Auvergne, UR TSCF, Centre de Clermont-Ferrand, 40 route de Chazeuil, Domaine des Palaquins, F-03150, Montoldre, France

    Marilys Pradel & Mathilde Lippi

  2. Irstea, UR OPAALE, 17 avenue de Cucillé, CS 64427, 35044, Rennes Cedex, France

    Marie-Line Daumer & Lynda Aissani

  3. Université Bretagne Loire, Rennes, France

    Marie-Line Daumer & Lynda Aissani

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  1. Marilys Pradel
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  2. Mathilde Lippi
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Correspondence to Marilys Pradel.

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Pradel, M., Lippi, M., Daumer, ML. et al. Environmental performances of production and land application of sludge-based phosphate fertilizers—a life cycle assessment case study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 2054–2070 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06910-4

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