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    Socio-environmental consideration of phosphorus flows in the urban sanitation chain of contrasting cities

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    Author
    Metson, GS; Powers, SM; Hale, RL; Sayles, JS; Oberg, G; MacDonald, GK; Kuwayama, Y; Springer, NP; Weatherley, AJ; Hondula, KL; ...
    Date
    2018-06-01
    Source Title
    Regional Environmental Change
    Publisher
    SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
    University of Melbourne Author/s
    Weatherley, Anthony
    Affiliation
    Agriculture and Food Systems
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Document Type
    Journal Article
    Citations
    Metson, G. S., Powers, S. M., Hale, R. L., Sayles, J. S., Oberg, G., MacDonald, G. K., Kuwayama, Y., Springer, N. P., Weatherley, A. J., Hondula, K. L., Jones, K., Chowdhury, R. B., Beusen, A. H. W. & Bouwman, A. F. (2018). Socio-environmental consideration of phosphorus flows in the urban sanitation chain of contrasting cities. REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE, 18 (5), pp.1387-1401. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1257-7.
    Access Status
    Open Access
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/11343/255572
    DOI
    10.1007/s10113-017-1257-7
    Abstract
    Understanding how cities can transform organic waste into a valuable resource is critical to urban sustainability. The capture and recycling of phosphorus (P), and other essential nutrients, from human excreta is particularly important as an alternative organic fertilizer source for agriculture. However, the complex set of socio-environmental factors influencing urban human excreta management is not yet sufficiently integrated into sustainable P research. Here, we synthesize information about the pathways P can take through urban sanitation systems along with barriers and facilitators to P recycling across cities. We examine five case study cities by using a sanitation chains approach: Accra, Ghana; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Beijing, China; Baltimore, USA; and London, England. Our cross-city comparison shows that London and Baltimore recycle a larger percentage of P from human excreta back to agricultural lands than other cities, and that there is a large diversity in socio-environmental factors that affect the patterns of recycling observed across cities. Our research highlights conditions that may be "necessary but not sufficient" for P recycling, including access to capital resources. Path dependencies of large sanitation infrastructure investments in the Global North contrast with rapidly urbanizing cities in the Global South, which present opportunities for alternative sanitation development pathways. Understanding such city-specific social and environmental barriers to P recycling options could help address multiple interacting societal objectives related to sanitation and provide options for satisfying global agricultural nutrient demand.

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