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Carter LJ, Dennis S, Allen K, McKenna P, Chen X, Daniell TJ, Evans B, Guest JS, Guo H, Kirk S, Zhu YG, Anik AR, Zuhra N, Banwart SA. Mitigating Contaminant-Driven Risks for the Safe Expansion of the Agricultural-Sanitation Circular Economy in an Urbanizing World. ACS ES T Water 2024; 4:1166-1176. [PMID: 38633372 PMCID: PMC11019536 DOI: 10.1021/acsestwater.3c00803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2023] [Revised: 01/19/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura J. Carter
- School of
Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, U.K.
- Global Food
and Environment Institute, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
| | - Sarah Dennis
- Global Food
and Environment Institute, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
- School of
Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
| | - Katie Allen
- Global Food
and Environment Institute, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
- School of
Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
| | - Patrick McKenna
- Global Food
and Environment Institute, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
- School of
Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
| | - Xiaohui Chen
- School of
Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
| | - Tim J. Daniell
- Molecular
Microbiology: Biochemistry to Disease, School of Biosciences, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, U.K.
| | - Barbara Evans
- School of
Civil Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
| | - Jeremy S. Guest
- Department
of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Hongyan Guo
- State
Key
Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the
Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
| | - Stuart Kirk
- The Schumacher
Institute, The Create Centre, Bristol BS1 6XN, U.K.
| | - Yong-Guan Zhu
- Research
Center for Eco-environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 18 Shuangqing Road, Beijing 100085, China
| | - Asif Reza Anik
- Department
of Agricultural Economics, Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Salna, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh
| | - Naqshe Zuhra
- Institute
of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University
of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Steven A. Banwart
- Global Food
and Environment Institute, University of
Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
- School of
Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K.
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