This report aims to identify good practices for environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants in some Baltic Sea (BS) countries and spread them to other countries where they are lacking or inefficient. The objective is to enhance permitting of pharmaceutical plants within current legislation framework to obtain information on their active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) emissions to municipal WWTPs (MWWTPs) and environment, resulting in improved information on pharmaceutical emissions, and aiding with direct mitigation measures when necessary. The pharmaceutical industry is highly globalized, interconnected and heterogeneous both spatially and temporally. The pharmaceutical industry includes API-production and the production of pharmaceutical products. Emissions from these activities may vary significantly. Also, as many activities are patch processes, emissions of specific substances are likely to happen only sporadically. The pharmaceutical industry may also include (re)packaging and other activities. The UNESCO & HELCOM Status Report on Pharmaceuticals (2017) [1] contains some information on pharmaceutical production in Estonia, Finland and Sweden, but no information on permitting practices of pharmaceutical plants. Thus, this report fills in identified information gaps related to the production of pharmaceuticals, e.g. by HELCOM. The working method evaluates the current national practices for environmental permitting for pharmaceutical plants in all seven countries represented in the project CWPharma (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden) with the aim of collecting some information also from Russia. In the Baltic Sea region (BSR), wide recommendations on good practices for environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants are proposed to initiate the process that clarifies the role of the pharmaceutical industry as a possible source of APIs and to estimate the need for measures that control the pharmaceutical industry’s emissions. Additionally, the aim is to evaluate the industrial wastewater contracts between municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) and pharmaceutical plants in each BS country, even if this task is more difficult than the task related to environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants. These documents are not publicly available, and thus the information on contracts proved difficult to obtain. The BSR wide recommendations are aimed at formulating good practices for industrial wastewater contracts between MWWTPs and pharmaceutical plants. The activities of this report pose very high transnational relevance in the Baltic Sea region (i.e. transnational spreading of good practices), because the recommendations are based on the current good practices in BSR countries and improvements made for them. Furthermore, the objective is that the recommendations will be utilised and implemented in all Baltic Sea countries. The information presented in this report will be used to identify priority measures at a national level to reduce pharmaceutical emissions. The results will also increase knowledge among target groups under the CWPharma project (pharmaceutical industry, operators of MWWTPs, permitting and supervisory authorities) and other relevant stakeholders through national stakeholder meetings and reports.

This report describes the contamination by pharmaceuticals and the environmental risks associated with their environmental levels in the Baltic Sea Region. Data were collected within the three-year project Clear Waters from Pharmaceuticals (CWPharma) funded by the EU’s Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme. Sampling was performed in the river basin districts of Vantaanjoki in Finland, Pärnu in Estonia, Lielupe and Daugava in Latvia, Vistula in Poland, Warnow-Peene in Germany and Motala ström in Sweden. Analyses were performed on surface water, coastal water, sediment and soil that was fertilized with sewage sludge or manure. Analyses were also performed on emissions from municipal wastewater treatment plants, hospitals, pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities, landfills, and fish and livestock farms. In total, the study covered 13 365 data points from 226 samples as well as collection of human and veterinary consumption data of selected active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Samples were screened for up to 80 APIs, representing antibiotics, antiepileptics, antihypertensives, asthma and allergy medications, gastrointestinal disease medications, hormones, metabolic disease medications, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and analgesics, other cardiovascular medicines, psychopharmaceuticals, veterinary medicines and caffeine. The measured APIs were selected based on analytical capacity, consumption rates, identified data gaps and potential environmental risks. Literature and databases were screened for ecotoxicological information. Acute toxicity tests were performed for two APIs, nebivolol and cetirizine, for which ecotoxicological data were lacking. Measured environmental concentrations were compared with predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC) to assess environmental risks of the selected APIs.

During the last decades, it has become evident that some active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) have harmful environmental impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, there is a need to decrease the amount of pharmaceutical residues that end up in the environment. Information gaps related to increased awareness of the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in the health care sector and the promotion of sustainable consumption of pharmaceuticals have been identified in the Status Report on Pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) published by UNESCO and HELCOM in 2017. The aim of the current report is to fill in some of the identified knowledge gaps identified in the HELCOM report, specifically increasing awareness about the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals. In Sweden, there are good practices for healthcare professionals about how to consider the environmental impacts of medications already at the prescription phase, as well as guidelines for how to make the environmental information available and accessible to healthcare professionals and the public. The Swedish practices are described and evaluated, and the measures that can be implemented in the other BSR countries are formulated as recommendations. Eight recommendations were formulated through dialogues with stakeholders in Sweden. The recommendations are divided into four main areas i.e. education, databases and guidelines, dissemination of information to public, and collaboration among stakeholders. Some recommendations might be implemented without any large challenges or financial costs while other recommendations require large changes such as economic investments and changes in legislation. This report also contains information about existing practices in other countries in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), provided by the project partners in the CWPharma project. The countries in the BSR are currently at different levels when it comes to management of pharmaceuticals and their residues in the environment. Public awareness of the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals differs, as do the systems for returning leftover medications. Basic education for health care personnel regarding the environmental consequences of different medications and pharmaceutical compounds exists in most of the BSR countries but the scope and content differs. One recommendation in the report is that environmental impacts of APIs should be compiled in a national, or ideally an EU level, database. As a first step, the Baltic Sea countries could investigate the possibility to establish national interfaces to the Swedish databases “Pharmaceutical and environment” (Janusinfo) or FASS. Although the data in “Pharmaceutical and environment” and FASS are not complete, they are existing platforms which provide valuable information and gather criteria important for classification. In Sweden, there are several channels for the dissemination of information about the environmental consequences of pharmaceuticals with the aim to raise public awareness regarding this subject. Examples of actions to be considered by other countries are information campaigns driven by pharmacies for returning unused and left over medications (Germany and Finland have similar campaigns), and distribution of leaflets with information about the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals, which have proven to be efficient in raising awareness among pharmacists, doctors and the public. The collaboration of different stakeholders is one of the foremost reasons for the progress that has been made regarding pharmaceuticals in the environment in Sweden. The Swedish Medical Production Agency has set up a Knowledge Centre for Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, providing a platform for different actors to discuss environmental issues connected to pharmaceuticals. Among these actors there is a sense of a shared environmental vision with common goals. Hence, one recommendation for the BSR countries is to investigate the possibilities of establishing similar national knowledge centers within medicine agencies, or to use existing networks as a starting point to also involve other environmental issues related to pharmaceuticals and to find new collaboration possibilities. Finally, collaboration between the EU countries is crucial to successfully implement environmental aspects in the lifecycle of the pharmaceuticals.

Gülle und Gärreste werden häufig als Wirtschaftsdünger in der Landwirtschaft eingesetzt. Sie liefern sowohl organisches Material für den Boden als auch Stickstoff, der ein wichtiger Nährstoff für Pflanzen ist. Oft stimmt jedoch die gesetzlich vorgeschriebene, saisonale Ausbringung der Gülle nicht mit dem Zeitpunkt des tatsächlichen Stickstoffbedarfs der Pflanzen überein. Dies führt zu einem unerwünschten Verlust des Stickstoffs für die Pflanzen durch Emissionen ins Grundwasser (Nitrat) oder in die Atmosphäre (Ammoniak und/oder Lachgas). Besonders in Regionen mit einem hohen Gülleaufkommen und einer hohen Ausbringungsrate der Gülle kann es zu starken Umweltbelastungen kommen. Um die Zufuhr des organischen Materials für den Boden von der Stickstoffzufuhr aus der Gülle für die Pflanzen zu entkoppeln, wurde in dem EU geförderten Projekt Circular Agronomics (www.circularagronomics.eu) eine Pilotanlage entwickelt und konstruiert. Die Pilotanlage soll eine „stickstoffabgereicherte Gülle“ produzieren, die als Bodenverbesserer eingesetzt werden kann. Cirular Agronomics zielt darauf ab, zwischen 80 % und 90 % des Stickstoffs, der ursprünglich als Ammonium vorlag, aus der Gülle bzw. dem Gärrest zurückzugewinnen. In einem anschließenden Gaswäscher reagiert das Ammoniakgas mit Schwefelsäure zu einer Ammoniumsulfatlösung, welche ein typischer mineralischer Stickstoffdünger ist. Dieser kann dann ausgebracht werden, wenn die Pflanze den Stickstoff benötigt und umsetzen kann. Um den Prozess der Vakuumentgasung besser zu verstehen und die optimalen Prozessbedingungen zu untersuchen, wurden im Vorfeld Laborexperimente durchgeführt. In den Versuchen wurden der pH-Wert, die Druckbedingungen und die Prozesstemperatur variiert. Die Experimente zeigten, dass bei einem pH-Wert von 9.0, einer Temperatur von 60 °C und einem absoluten Druck von 190 mbar bis zu 88 % des Ammoniums aus dem Gärrest in Form von Ammoniak abgereichert wurden. Eine CO2-Strippung vor Anhebung des pH-Wertes auf pH 9.0, verringerte zudem die notwendige Natronlaugenzufuhr zur pH-Wert-Anhebung um 30 %. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen der Experimente wurden Schlussfolgerungen für ein optimales Design der Pilotanlage abgeleitet. Derzeit wird die Pilotanlage in Betrieb genommen und erste Versuche durchgeführt, deren Ergebnisse ebenfalls im Vortrag präsentiert werden.

Circular Agronomics (CA) provides a comprehensive synthesis of practical solutions to improve the current carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in European agro-ecosystems and related up and downstream processes within the value-chain of food production. CA is a frontrunner project exploiting affordable solutions to meet, among others, the requirements of agriculture, water and waste legislations as well as the EU policy targets regarding emission reduction (mainly NH3, NOx and GHG: CO2, CH4, N2O). The policy analysis contributes to market innovations, to sustainability and European initiatives and finally also to the development of effective joined up policy - further steps towards integrating agriculture in circular economy.

The types and objectives to apply managed aquifer recharge (MAR) are manifold and so are the risks that can arise during the planning, implementation and operation of a MAR facility. In general, operational, regulatory, business, human health, and environmental risks can occur and should be identified already during the planning and implementation stage to apply preventive measures and secure the safe and realibale operation of a MAR facility. This report represents risk assessment based on recommendations of international guidelines (AlcaldeSanz and Gawlik, 2017; NRMMC-EPHC-NHMRC, 2008; WHO, 2009, 2011) at six MAR sites which are at different stages of development. Three case studies are at the feasibility or pilot stage: two ASR systems in João Pessoa and Recife, Brazil and one induced bank filtration site at the Beberibe River in Brazil, and three case studies at the operational stage: one SAT system in the Ezousa catchment in Cyprus, and two infiltration basin systems in Hyères, France (Aquarenova site) and Berlin-Spandau, Germany. The entrylevel assessment according to the Australian guidelines (NRMMC-EPHC-NHMRC, 2009) has been conducted for the feasibility or pilot scale schemes For fully operational MAR schemes, in addition to the entry-level assessment, the degree of difficulty assessment and the maximal risk assessment were carried out. At all stages of site development, risk assessment helps to identify and characterize potential hazards that may cause risks to human health and the environment. This report may be used to assist in clarifying which actions or further investigations are required to identify and reduce the uncertainty of risks and to implement remediation measures if necessary. In addition, this report intends to show how sitespecific hazards have been assessed to varying degrees depending upon the level of risk assessed at each project development stage.

Durch die Klärschlammverordnung (AbfKlärV) wird die Phosphor(P)-Rückgewinnung aus Klärschlämmen bzw. Klärschlammaschen für Klärwerke mit einer genehmigten Ausbaugröße ab 100.000 Einwohnerwerten (EW) ab dem Kalenderjahr 2029 gesetzlich vorgeschrieben. Dies betrifft alle sechs Klärwerke, welche von den Berliner Wasserbetrieben (BWB) betrieben werden. Die vorliegende Studie diskutiert verschiedene Möglichkeiten der Phosphorrückgewinnung mit Blick auf die Vorgaben der AbfKlärV, die Wirtschaftlichkeit der verschiedenen Ansätze und dient den BWB als Konzeptpapier für eine weitergehende Planung Ihrer Strategie zur P-Rückgewinnung.

The sewage sludge ordinance forces wastewater treatment plants to ensure the recovery of phosphate from the produced sewage sludge. In most cases, this obligation is transferred to the company in charge of the sludge disposal. For the recovery process, technology-specific but not product-specific specifications are made. The present article gives an overview of the products of different processes and their possible marketing in two routes: direct marketing and integration into the fertilizer industry. Possibilities, limits, requirements and potential product revenues for selected products are discussed against the background of current world market prices. Finally, the chemical expenditure of certain processes and logistical considerations are addressed. The considerations suggest that wet chemical ash processes should best be integrated in chemical parks.

In this master thesis the redissolution and recovery of phosphorus (P) and other valuable materials from Ruhleben sewage sludge ash (R-SSA) with HCl and H2SO4 was investigated using experimental laboratory tests. The parameters acid amount, solid liquid ratio (s/l ratio) and reaction time were varied and their influence on the redissolution of Ca, P, Al, Fe and SO4 was measured. Results showed that HCl(37%) resolved 91 ± 4 % P with an acid amount of 4 mL on 5 g R-SSA, a s/l ratio of 1:20 (acid concentration 0.46 mol/L) and a reaction time of 60 min. H2SO4(30%) on the other hand resolved 89 ± 3 % P at 6 mL on 5 g R-SSA, a s/l ratio of 1:10 (acid concentration 0.6 mol/L) and a reaction time of 60 min. Ca and SO4 showed very good redissolution of up to 100 % with HCl. The Ca redissolution with H2SO4 is clearly below that of HCl and is 63%. Al resolved to a lesser extent and reaches 65% with H2SO4 and 53% with HCl. Fe shows the lowest redissolution of 14% with HCl and 12% with H2SO4. The H2SO4 leaching experiments also showed that it is possible to separate the gypsum from the R-SSA if the leaching liquid is separated from the R-SSA after short contact times with H2SO4. The contact time, the acid amount and the s/l ratio have a big impact on the precipitation. It was possible to recover 75% of the total amount of gypsum that can be precipitated from R-SSA. In addition to this, the gypsum-free leaching liquid was then added to the R-SSA again which had already been leached, in order to dissolve P. There was no loss of P redissolution when the gypsum was extracted. This approach could not be observed in any other study. Based on the results, a recovery of 2,114 ± 130 t P/a with HCl and 2062 ± 130 t P/a with H2SO4 are possible if an amount of 30,000 t R-SSA/a is treated, which are forecasted for Berlin in the future. Since the redissolution of 91 ± 4% P requires an acid amount of 946 kg HCl(37%)/t R-SSA, this would result in an absolute annual acid requirement of 28,380 t HCl(37%) for 30,000 t R-SSA/a. H2SO4 experiments showed that 725 kg H2SO4(90%)/t R-SSA would be required for 89 ± 3% P redissolution, resulting in an absolute acid requirement of 21,750 t H2SO4(90%). Since H2SO4 has a lower consumption due to the higher concentration, is the cheaper acid of the two and has the possibility of recovering gypsum, H2SO4 would be preferred for leaching R-SSA from an economic point of view. In addition, about 75% of the gypsum can be precipitated with H2SO4, which corresponds to a quantity of 255 kg of gypsum(dry)/t R-SSA. At 30,000 t R-SSA/a, this results in an annual amount of 6630 ± 51 t gypsum that can be recovered.