Screening of microplastics and streamlined risk assessment of hazardous substances in sludge using effect driven analysis for a safe recycling on arable lands

This research project towards municipal sewage sludge is a further development from a larger collaboration between Ragn-Sells and the research profile EnForce (www.oru.se/enforce) at Örebro University. The project will focus on developing a broad and cost-effective characterization of hazardous substances and microplastics. A recent Swedish study conclude that a complex combination of technical, environmental, socio-economical, psychological, and political factors play an important role in judgment and decision-making regarding sewage sludge and its safe use as fertilizer in agriculture. The goal with this project is to provide science based knowledge and develop a reliable quality assurance method of sludge, which is required to enable the use of more sludge as a circular resource on agricultural farmlands in a safe way.