Sustainable Management of Wastewater and Sludge

Dear Colleagues,

The activated sludge system, a stable biotechnology that has been utilized in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for decades, effectively removes nutrients such as organics, nitrogen, and phosphorus from wastewater. However, it generates substantial amounts of waste-activated sludge (WAS), which requires expensive disposal. Medium to large-scale WWTPs commonly use anaerobic sludge digestion processes to recover organics from WAS as bioenergy (i.e., biogas) and to stabilize the sludge. Many smaller-scale WWTPs rely on aerobic sludge digestion processes to mineralize and stabilize WAS. However, the current wastewater treatment processes require a significant energy input, and existing sludge treatment methods produce low-quality sludge while exhibiting relatively low efficiency. In the era of the circular economy, the wastewater industry necessitates technologies with high efficiency and low energy consumption. Therefore, our Special Issue titled “Sustainable Management of Wastewater and Sludge” focuses on the development of novel biotechnologies in the wastewater and sludge industry to promote the circular economy.

This Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

• Nitrogen removal biotechnology;
• Phosphorus removal biotechnology;
• Resource recovery biotechnology;
• Low greenhouse gas emission biotechnology;
• Integrated wastewater and sludge management;
• Innovitive uses of digestate (both liquid and solid).

We look forward to receiving contributions that will advance the field and foster the principles of the circular economy.

Dr. Zhetai Hu
Dr. Zhiqiang Zuo
Dr. Bo Wang
Guest Editors

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• sustainable biotechnology
• wastewater treatment
• sludge treatment
• low greenhouse gas emission
• resource recovery
• nitrogen removal
• integrated wastewater management
• use of digestate
• bioplastics