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March 14, 2018

Phosphate mines will run out across the world, which is bad news for agriculture, as this mineral is essential for the growth of crops. Luckily, there is a solution: recycling phosphate from our waste flows, for example human excreta. In the Netherlands, regional water authorities treating wastewater search for innovative ways to recover phosphate from it, but the waste water sector alone cannot solve the phosphate problem. In her postdoctoral project at Wageningen University and Research, Saskia van der Kooij looks at ways in which the various links in the phosphorus cycle might work together better to successfully recycle phosphorus from human excreta. And that quest begins… with the humble toilet.