This is a series available on the BBC website. All are interesting but some are really worth recommending.
Treasure in the Toilet [BBC video 24 March 2020 available for one year]
Human sewage contains lots of valuable nutrients, so should we be recycling it? One of these nutrients is phosphorus, a key ingredient in fertiliser. It is an essential but limited resource which cannot be replaced by any other element.Once it finds its way into the sea it becomes impossible to recover.
We all excrete about half a kilogram of phosphorus a year, making cities a potentially rich source to the element. Phosphorus recovery from wastewater, sewage sludge (up to 40% to 50%) and the ash from incinerated sewage sludge (can reach up to 90%).
In the Netherlands human sludge is already being processed to recover phosphorus and recycle it into a high-tech fertiliser which will not leach into the environment.
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