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Review
. 2025 Apr:92:103266.
doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2025.103266. Epub 2025 Feb 10.

Wastewater biorefineries: exploring biological phosphorus removal and integrated recovery solutions

Samarpita Roy  1 , Jette F Petersen  2 , Sarah Müller  3 , Zivile Kondrotaite  2 , Mark van Loosdrecht  4 , Thomas Wintgens  3 , Per H Nielsen  5
Affiliations
Review

Wastewater biorefineries: exploring biological phosphorus removal and integrated recovery solutions

Samarpita Roy et al. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

The emphasis on phosphorus removal and recovery from wastewater treatment plants has intensified in recent years due to the urgent need to reduce dependency on nonrenewable phosphorus reserves. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR), driven by a diverse community of polyphosphate-accumulating organisms with distinct metabolic capabilities, offers several advantages over chemical precipitation methods. These benefits include reduced chemical use, lower sludge volumes, decreased reliance on costly chemical precipitants, and improved phosphorus recovery quality. Recent advancements in recovery technologies now enable efficient phosphorus extraction from digester supernatant, dewatered digested sewage sludge, and sewage sludge ash, each yielding different recovery efficiencies. Despite these advances, a comprehensive assessment of the phosphorus recovery potential from these target streams in conjunction with EBPR remains crucial and has yet to be fully explored.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest We wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. We confirm that the manuscript has been read and approved by all named authors and that there are no other persons who satisfied the criteria for authorship but are not listed. We further confirm that the order of authors listed in the manuscript has been approved by all of us. We confirm that we have given due consideration to the protection of intellectual property associated with this work and that there are no impediments to publication, including the timing of publication, with respect to intellectual property. In so doing, we confirm that we have followed the regulations of our institutions concerning intellectual property. We understand that the Corresponding Author(s) is the sole contact for the Editorial process (including Editorial Manager and direct communications with the office). The Corresponding Author(s) are responsible for communicating with the other authors about progress, submissions of revisions, and final approval of proofs.

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