Skip to main content
SLU:s publikationsdatabas (SLUpub)

Sammanfattning

Urine recycling is an emerging promising approach for enhancing resource recovery and mitigating environmental impacts in sanitation systems. This study presents a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) of a urine dehydration system implemented at three levels of decentralization: (i) toilet-level units within bathrooms; (ii) basement-level units serving multiple households; and (iii) centralized neighborhood-scale facilities using dedicated sewers for off-site processing. Each configuration is assessed using both consequential and attributional system models across five impact categories: global warming potential, acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication, and cumulative energy demand. The basement-level system consistently shows the lowest impacts, with up to 50% lower global warming potential than the other configurations. Centralized treatment is the most energy-efficient per liter of urine treated, but the sewer infrastructure burden offsets this advantage. Sensitivity analysis shows that substituting sulfuric acid for citric acid and achieving >52% heat recovery can yield net-negative emissions at the basement level. The choice of the LCA system model strongly affects results: attributional with substitution yields net-negative impacts, whereas consequential provides more conservative but robust estimates. The findings underscore the need for methodological transparency in LCA and provide guidance for scaling sustainable decentralized urine recycling.

Nyckelord

life cycle assessment; eco technology; urinerecycling; resource recovery; source separation

Publicerad i

Environmental Science and Technology
2025, volym: 59, nummer: 39, sidor: 21160–21173
Utgivare: AMER CHEMICAL SOC

SLU författare

UKÄ forskningsämne

Miljövetenskap
Vattenbehandlingsbioteknik

Publikationens identifierare

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5c09248

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/143964