The northern German city of Kiel is moving forward on its path to net zero by building and operating a sewage sludge incineration plant with an integrated phosphorus recovery system – together with REMONDIS. The cooperation with the city of Kiel is nothing new – both entities have been working together successfully and closely at the Kiel‘s refuse incineration plant for over 20 years.
The integrated phosphorus recovery facility, which will use the TetraPhos® process developed by REMONDIS to recycle sewage sludge and recover phosphorus, will be just the second in Germany and therefore serves as a model for the entire country. Under German law, phosphorus will have to be recovered from sewage sludge starting in 2029. Along with providing phosphorus recovery services, REMONDIS will be responsible for delivering and transporting sewage sludge and ensuring that it can be handled during inspection shutdowns.
From left: Dr Frank Ehlers (Managing Director, Müllverbrennung Kiel), Sabine Schirdewahn (Plant Manager at Kiel’s Eigenbetrieb Beteiligungen), Wolfgang Steen (Managing Director, REMONDIS) and Dr Ulf Kämpfer (Mayor of Kiel)
“This lighthouse project will ensure that the municipal sewage sludge in Kiel will soon be treated using a net-zero process and that the energy produced from this process will be able to be fed into Kiel’s network as district heat. Besides providing a supply of green district heat, this plant will also be reusing the water recovered during the sludge pre-treatment stage in its own operations – a further step towards protecting the environment and tackling climate change. This project is being supported by the EU LIFE programme as part of the European Union’s Green Deal.”
Dr Ulf Kämpfer, Mayor of Kiel
Image credits: image 1: © Thomas Eisenkrätzer
