Kommuners inställning till krav på kretslopp för enskilda avlopp

Sammanfattning: Today many households in Sweden use small on-site sewage facilities to take care of their own wastewater which is then treated and released into the environment. The sewage sludge that remains contain many nutrients, like phosphorous and nitrogen, which could potentially be reused as fertilizers. The sludge is usually contaminated with pathogens and unwanted or even toxic substances and if not treated properly constitutes a risk to both the environment and human health. This means that to exploit this cheap source of nutrients you have to collect and treat the sludge to such a degree that using it for growing crops can be done without creating risks for society or the environment. In this study seven Swedish municipalities were interviewed on their views and current work on recycling waste from on-site sewage systems. The study showed that the many uncertainties and unknowns surrounding this practice make it very hard to successfully create a functional system. Society is currently not very accepting to growing food using sewage sludge, and more knowledge and information needs to be made available to show people that it can be done safely. This would probably make them more willing to invest in technology that makes it possible to collect waste from the on-site sewage systems. Lack of knowledge surrounding both the risks and gains of this practice is currently one of the biggest obstacles. The municipalities also lack both support by law and guidance for how a proper system should be built and how the collection and dispersal should be done efficiently without risking people’s health. More studies need to be done in the future in order to make the recycling of nutrient from sewage sludge a viable option to for a more sustainable society in the future.