ABSTRACT
Drying and landfill disposal are the sludge management options with the most significant greenhouse gas emissions. In Europe and the US, greenhouse gas emissions from sludge treatment are considered as an important benchmark while assessing alternative sludge treatment technologies. Municipal sludge is composed of non-toxic organic carbon compounds, nitrogen and phosphorus containing components. Sludge can be reuse for the production of construction materials such as bricks, cement, pumice, slag and artificial lightweight aggregates. The organic and inorganic compounds in sludge offer the valuable resources for production of construction material. Several efforts have been made so far recently in the direction of phosphorus recovery from sludge through crystallization method. The electricity production from microbial decomposition of sludges is another beneficial route of sludge to energy recovery. Energy and resource recovery from sludge is technically feasible through several thermo-chemical, bio-chemical and mechanical-chemical technologies.
