Anaerobic microbial core for municipal wastewater treatment — the sustainable platform for resource recovery

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dc.contributor.authorConall Holohan, B.
dc.contributor.authorTrego, Anna
dc.contributor.authorKeating, Ciara
dc.contributor.authorBressani-Ribeiro, Thiago
dc.contributor.authorChernicharo, Carlos L.
dc.contributor.authorDaigger, Glen
dc.contributor.authorGaldi, Stephen M.
dc.contributor.authorKnörle, Ulrich
dc.contributor.authorPaissoni, Eleonora
dc.contributor.authorRobles, Angel
dc.contributor.authorRogalla, Frank
dc.contributor.authorShin, Chungheon
dc.contributor.authorSoares, Ana
dc.contributor.authorSmith, Adam L.
dc.contributor.authorSzczuka, Aleksandra
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Dermot
dc.contributor.authorO’Flaherty, Vincent
dc.date.accessioned2025-06-04T14:46:40Z
dc.date.available2025-06-04T14:46:40Z
dc.date.freetoread2025-06-04
dc.date.issued2025-08-01
dc.date.pubOnline2025-05-22
dc.description.abstractThe requirement for carbon neutrality and bioresource recovery has shifted our views on water treatment from health and pollution avoidance to one of sustainability with water and nutrient circularity. Despite progress, the current process of wastewater treatment is linear, based on core aerobic microbiology, which is unlikely to be carbon neutral due to its large use of energy and production of waste sludge. Here, we outline a shift from aerobic to anaerobic microbiology at the core of wastewater treatment and resource recovery, illustrating the state-of-the-art technologies available for this paradigm shift. Anaerobic metabolism primarily offers the benefit of minimal energy input (up to 50% reduction) and minimal biomass production, resulting in up to 95% less waste sludge compared with aerobic treatment, which is increasingly attractive, given dialogue surrounding emerging contaminants in biosolids. Recent innovative research solutions have made ambient (mainstream) anaerobic treatment a ready substitute for the aerobic processes for municipal wastewater in temperate regions. Moreover, utilising anaerobic treatment as the core carbon removal step allows for more biological downstream resource recovery with several opportunities to couple the process with (anaerobic) nitrogen and phosphorus recovery, namely, potential mainstream anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) and methane oxidation (N-DAMO). Furthermore, these technologies can be mixed and matched with membranes and ion-exchange systems, high-value biochemical production, and/or water reuse installations. As such, we propose the reconfiguration of the wastewater treatment plant of the futurewith anaerobic microbiology. Mainstream anaerobic treatment at the core of a truly sustainable platform for modern municipal wastewater treatment, facilitating circular economy and net-zero carbon goals.
dc.description.journalNameCurrent Opinion in Biotechnology
dc.description.sponsorshipPartial funding was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Award 2229857).
dc.format.mediumPrint-Electronic
dc.identifier.citationConall Holohan B, Trego A, Keating C, et al., (2025) Anaerobic microbial core for municipal wastewater treatment — the sustainable platform for resource recovery. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, Volume 94, August 2025, Article number 103317en_UK
dc.identifier.eissn1879-0429
dc.identifier.elementsID673351
dc.identifier.issn0958-1669
dc.identifier.paperNo103317
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2025.103317
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/23974
dc.identifier.volumeNo94
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0958166925000618?via%3Dihub
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject30 Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciencesen_UK
dc.subject31 Biological Sciencesen_UK
dc.subject32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciencesen_UK
dc.subject3106 Industrial Biotechnologyen_UK
dc.subject3206 Medical Biotechnologyen_UK
dc.subject3001 Agricultural Biotechnologyen_UK
dc.subject12 Responsible Consumption and Productionen_UK
dc.subject7 Affordable and Clean Energyen_UK
dc.subjectBiotechnologyen_UK
dc.titleAnaerobic microbial core for municipal wastewater treatment — the sustainable platform for resource recoveryen_UK
dc.typeArticle
dc.type.subtypeReview
dcterms.dateAccepted2025-05-05

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