Decreased eutrophication with recycling and circular economy

Important results from the project

The project has developed a financially and ecologically sustainable solution to address oxygen-free seabeds and the internal leakage of phosphorus in the Baltic Sea over the course of 20 years, using recycled solutions, for example with revenues from manganese, phosphorus, coal and silt for the cement and concrete industry. By being able to continuously reduce the internal leakage of phosphorus, at the same time, the opportunities for the tourism around the Baltic Sea are increasing to develop its offering, an industry that employs a significant number of young people and women.

Expected long term effects

The result implies that the internal leakage can be curbed with funding from two parallel sub-processes where different fractions are recovered from the Baltic Sea - manganese, silt, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. By retrieving oxygen-consuming substances, oxygen consumption can be reduced in the bottom water, which makes phosphorus bond in the sediment and thereby reducing the eutrophication in the water column. The proposal can be financed without significant increase in appropriations, with methods that have not been shown to have a negative environmental impact.

Approach and implementation

A total of eight work packages with field, laboratory and marketing work, with the following parties: SAS in WP2. SGU and SU have contributed silt from two basins in the Baltic Sea. Analyzes of silt through the RISE Betonginstitutet, with its own lab equipment and with equipment from Cementa and Swerock. Separation analyzes by Alfa Laval. The collaboration between industry and research has provided the basis for the industrial process. 1 Circular economy 2 Ecological compensation 3 Energy 4 Plant Nutrition 5 Silt - silicon 6 Silt - particle gasket 7 Industrial Process 8 Business Gotland