Environmental footprint
Environmental footprint
One of INCOPA’s roles is to quantify the environmental impact of coagulants. It is well known that municipal wastewater treatment plants consume energy in their processes, but also have a potential to produce energy in the form of biogas. There are a number of “standard” process solutions when treating wastewater depending on its quality, treatment requirements, available space and assessment on what is a good solution.
Life Cycle Analysis of different Wastewater Treatment Plant Processes
Pre-Precipitation with coagulants has the lowest carbon footprint, while Biological Phosphorus Removal has the highest.
The Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) has published in December 2020 A study, co-funded by INCOPA, on Life Cycle Analysis of different Wastewater Treatment Plant Processes. This LCA compares the environmental impact of treating wastewater:
- to two levels of effluent quality: total phosphorus concentration of 1 mg P/L and 0.3 mg P/L
- in three process configurations: Pre-Precipitation, Simultaneous Precipitation and Biological Phosphorous Removal.
The incoming water quality was the same in all scenarios. Automatic process control in the models was used to achieve similar treatment results for the different processes. The more stringent the phosphorus removal limits, the higher the carbon footprint. Pre-Precipitation has the lowest carbon footprint, while Biological Phosphorus Removal has the highest.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Coagulant Production
The carbon footprint of coagulants ranges from 40 to 120 g CO₂ eq./mol Fe³⁺ or Al³⁺, an impressively low value.
In 2023, INCOPA updated its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for coagulant production. The study covers the entire process from the production of raw materials to the point where the coagulants leave the factory gate, known as a cradle-to-gate assessment.
Carbon footprint assessment of chemical and biological phosphorus removal
In wastewater treatment plants, chemical phosphorus removal offers a more sustainable approach than biological treatment, and also allows to achieve energy neutrality.
The Carbon Footprint Assessment of Chemical and Biological Phosphorus Removal [link] report aims to evaluate the environmental impact of different wastewater treatment processes. It focuses on comparing the carbon footprints of chemical and biological phosphorus removal methods and explores the potential for achieving energy neutrality in wastewater treatment plants.
Chemical phosphorus removal reduces climate impact by lowering electricity consumption and increasing biogas yield.
Achieving energy neutrality in wastewater treatment is more feasible with chemical phosphorus removal due to reduced electricity consumption and enhanced biogas production.
To meet stricter phosphorus limits (0.3 and 0.5 mg/l), wastewater treatment plants must undergo additional energy-consuming steps such as sand filters, which ultimately increase the overall climate impact.
This report provides valuable insights for wastewater treatment plants aiming to meet stricter effluent limits and improve sustainability.
Conducted by the IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute on behalf of INCOPA, the study reveals an impressively low carbon footprint, with the largest contributor being the production of raw materials. However, using secondary raw materials, combined with careful management of factors such as energy consumption for water evaporation, can significantly reduce the overall carbon footprint.
Contribution to Environmental Footprint datasets for Life Cycle Inventory
INCOPA is proud to collaborate closely with Carbon Minds in the development of high-quality datasets of a series of inorganic coagulants.
European Commission Recommendation C(2021)9332 aims to promote the use of Environmental Footprint methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organizations. It provides a standardized approach to ensure reliable, verifiable, and comparable environmental information, supporting green claims and sustainability initiatives within the EU. To this end, the European Commission has updated its methodology for measuring Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and Organization Environmental Footprint (OEF), EF 4.0.
Besides this methodology, high-quality datasets are essential for accurate environmental footprint calculations. Carbon Minds, a leading source of LCA and Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data for the chemical industry, has been mandated by the Commission to develop Environmental Footprint compliant, comprehensive, high-quality Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data for the chemical industry.
This whole process will help companies perform accurate environmental footprint assessments, ensuring green claims are based on robust, scientific data, and enhancing the overall credibility of environmental footprint calculations.