In Catalonia, 120,000 tonnes of sludge are generated per year from urban sewage treatment plants. Almost half of this material is used to fertilize crops.
An IRTA project, Demo Fangs, has studied the impact on productivity and the quality of crop production in soils fertilized with mud and has determined that this model is an efficient alternative compared to classic fertilization with minerals.
The Demo Fangs project has had data collected for more than 25 years in an experimental trial carried out at the IRTA facilities in Girona.
This is a way of giving a second life to the material, favoring at the same time the circular economy and the sustainability of the fields. Now, the use of these sludges (also called “biosolids”) in agricultural activity has been regulated by different regulations for decades.
