Soil contamination from biosolids

Some countries have introduced legislation to limit or prohibit the landfilling of organic waste, including biosolids from wastewater treatment plants. As a result, biosolids are reused as a soil improver/fertiliser on agricultural land. However, there is growing concern that biosolids may actually cause soil contamination and subsequently affect the food chain due to residual levels of contaminants in the treated sludge.

Nº 2
some attempts made
past case
Region-1
Region-2
Region-3
Region-4
ongoing case
no attempts made

None

Soil contamination from biosolids

Some countries have introduced legislation to limit or prohibit the landfilling of organic waste, including biosolids from wastewater treatment plants. As a result, biosolids are reused as a soil improver/fertiliser on agricultural land. However, there is growing concern that biosolids may actually cause soil contamination and subsequently affect the food chain due to residual levels of contaminants in the treated sludge.

The European Union has implemented a directive that establishes a strict waste hierarchy, giving priority to alternatives to landfill. Several European countries, including Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, have gone a step further by banning landfill altogether. As a result, sewage sludge or biosolids are increasingly being used as fertiliser on agricultural land. However, this practice has raised concerns about soil contamination due to the presence of heavy metals, organic contaminants and pathogens in sewage sludge.

Collivignarelli, M. C., Abbà, A., Frattarola, A., Carnevale Miino, M., Padovani, S., Katsoyiannis, I., & Torretta, V. (2019). Legislation for the reuse of biosolids on agricultural land in Europe: Overview. Sustainability, 11(21), 6015.

Collivignarelli, M. C., Abbà, A., Frattarola, A., Carnevale Miino, M., Padovani, S., Katsoyiannis, I., & Torretta, V. (2019). Legislation for the reuse of biosolids on agricultural land in Europe: Overview. Sustainability, 11(21), 6015.

Clarke, R. M., & Cummins, E. (2015). Evaluation of “classic” and emerging contaminants resulting from the application of biosolids to agricultural lands: a review. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 21(2), 492-513.