Sustainable resource recovery from municipal wastewater: An overview.

Abstract

The rapid growth of human population, climate change and economic growth has resulted in a greater demand for natural resources includes water, nutrients and energy which leads to huge production of municipal wastewater. It ultimately puts pressure on the environment as it leads to the water pollution. The traditional methods used for municipal wastewater treatment for removal of contaminants are effective in human health protection, however, needs large amount of energy and materials for the removal of contaminants and are inefficient for the recovery of resources.  To overcome this, sustainable approach for resource recovery from municipal wastewater is the best alternative as wastewater contains abundant crucial resources such as water, organic and inorganic material. If it is recovered and recycled, leads to reduce the stress on natural resources. This paper discussed an overview on recovery of different resources such as biogas, biohydrogen, single cell proteins, water, metals, nutrients, fertilizers and Polyhydroxyalkanoate from municipal wastewater which can help to reduce pressure on natural resources, pollution and help to increase circular economy, which leads to the sustain the environment.