Industrial ecology tools as decision – making aids for sustainable phosphorus recovery – a methodology paper / Industriell-ekologiverktyg som beslutsstöd för hållbar fosforåtervinning – en metodartikel

India, being the second largest importer, and the largest consumer of phosphate fertilisers in the world, needs to focus on securing its supplies not merely by providing subsidies to importers but also focusing on recovery and recycling of phosphorus from waste streams. In the process, the country can avail of concomitant benefits like wastewater reclamation and bio-energy generation, and improve the lot of the millions of farmers in the country. In this paper the authors have outlined a methodology based on industrial ecology tools – MFA (SFA), E-LCA, LCC and S-LCA – which they intend to adopt in the near-term to study, analyse and model the status quo and proposed interventions, from a sustainability perspective, which will become indispensable in the not-too-distant future for the country. The literature review which has been segmented on the basis of the application of the different tools to the study and analysis of resource recovery from wastewater, provides insights into what has been done thus far, and prepares the bedrock for a more detailed analysis.