General methodology of Life Cycle Assessment that will be used to assess the environmental evaluation of each case study. This includes the description of the used methods and tools, as well as information that applies for all studied systems. The document also comprises the methodological approach, the interpretation concept and specific assumptions for the innovative production strategies assessed within the CS of Circular Agronomics. All studied systems are described in detail and a brief overview over the further steps of the environmental assessment, including data collection and calculations is given.

Circular Agronomics (CA) provides a comprehensive synthesis of practical solutions to improve the current carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling in European agro-ecosystems and related up and downstream processes within the value-chain of food production. CA is a frontrunner project exploiting affordable solutions to meet, among others, the requirements of agriculture, water and waste legislations as well as the EU policy targets regarding emission reduction (mainly NH3, NOx and GHG: CO2, CH4, N2O). The policy analysis contributes to market innovations, to sustainability and European initiatives and finally also to the development of effective joined up policy - further steps towards integrating agriculture in circular economy.

This report aims to identify good practices for environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants in some Baltic Sea (BS) countries and spread them to other countries where they are lacking or inefficient. The objective is to enhance permitting of pharmaceutical plants within current legislation framework to obtain information on their active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) emissions to municipal WWTPs (MWWTPs) and environment, resulting in improved information on pharmaceutical emissions, and aiding with direct mitigation measures when necessary. The pharmaceutical industry is highly globalized, interconnected and heterogeneous both spatially and temporally. The pharmaceutical industry includes API-production and the production of pharmaceutical products. Emissions from these activities may vary significantly. Also, as many activities are patch processes, emissions of specific substances are likely to happen only sporadically. The pharmaceutical industry may also include (re)packaging and other activities. The UNESCO & HELCOM Status Report on Pharmaceuticals (2017) [1] contains some information on pharmaceutical production in Estonia, Finland and Sweden, but no information on permitting practices of pharmaceutical plants. Thus, this report fills in identified information gaps related to the production of pharmaceuticals, e.g. by HELCOM. The working method evaluates the current national practices for environmental permitting for pharmaceutical plants in all seven countries represented in the project CWPharma (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Sweden) with the aim of collecting some information also from Russia. In the Baltic Sea region (BSR), wide recommendations on good practices for environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants are proposed to initiate the process that clarifies the role of the pharmaceutical industry as a possible source of APIs and to estimate the need for measures that control the pharmaceutical industry’s emissions. Additionally, the aim is to evaluate the industrial wastewater contracts between municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWWTPs) and pharmaceutical plants in each BS country, even if this task is more difficult than the task related to environmental permitting of pharmaceutical plants. These documents are not publicly available, and thus the information on contracts proved difficult to obtain. The BSR wide recommendations are aimed at formulating good practices for industrial wastewater contracts between MWWTPs and pharmaceutical plants. The activities of this report pose very high transnational relevance in the Baltic Sea region (i.e. transnational spreading of good practices), because the recommendations are based on the current good practices in BSR countries and improvements made for them. Furthermore, the objective is that the recommendations will be utilised and implemented in all Baltic Sea countries. The information presented in this report will be used to identify priority measures at a national level to reduce pharmaceutical emissions. The results will also increase knowledge among target groups under the CWPharma project (pharmaceutical industry, operators of MWWTPs, permitting and supervisory authorities) and other relevant stakeholders through national stakeholder meetings and reports.

Durch die Klärschlammverordnung (AbfKlärV) wird die Phosphor(P)-Rückgewinnung aus Klärschlämmen bzw. Klärschlammaschen für Klärwerke mit einer genehmigten Ausbaugröße ab 100.000 Einwohnerwerten (EW) ab dem Kalenderjahr 2029 gesetzlich vorgeschrieben. Dies betrifft alle sechs Klärwerke, welche von den Berliner Wasserbetrieben (BWB) betrieben werden. Die vorliegende Studie diskutiert verschiedene Möglichkeiten der Phosphorrückgewinnung mit Blick auf die Vorgaben der AbfKlärV, die Wirtschaftlichkeit der verschiedenen Ansätze und dient den BWB als Konzeptpapier für eine weitergehende Planung Ihrer Strategie zur P-Rückgewinnung.

Circular Agronomics, aims to foster the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. Therefore, this deliverable focuses on circular solutions for waste and wastewaters originating from the food industry. In 2019, the “Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for the Food, Drink and Milk Industries” (BREF-document) was published by the European Commission. Based on that, the deliverable summarizes the state of the art of the technologies already in use and concludes their suitability for circular economy solutions. In Circular Agronomics, new technologies for the recovery of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are developed and investigated. So far, those technologies are not included in the BREF-document yet. Therefore, the concepts of the technologies are introduced in the deliverable. For a potential integration of those technologies in the BREF-document, the technologies are described in detail in the annex according to the required structure in the BREF-document. However, since the technologies are still under development, those descriptions are considered as a first draft. The authors suggest to update those descriptions at a later stage of the project prior to their potential integration in the BREF-document. Referring to the goal to recover carbon and nutrients, the deliverable presents a detailed characterization of the waste and wastewaters originating from the food industries. Based on that, the five most promising waste and wastewater streams regarding carbon recovery, nitrogen recovery, phosphorus recovery and potassium recovery were selected. For those streams and the corresponding recovery technologies four new concepts are suggested in the deliverable. In order to show the technology providers an overview of potential clients for their technologies and for those concepts, for each selected industry, the European country with the highest production rate was chosen. For this country, the regional distribution of the certain industry was determined.

Objectives: (i) To ensure that knowledge developed during the project is properly captured and dissemination is effectively targeted and carried out systematically (ii) To promote a continuous knowledge exchange and transfer for project outcomes with interested stakeholders beyond the consortium (iii) To formulate fact based policy recommendations that stimulate the transition towards a circular economy (iv) To create public awareness concerning the need for a circular economy and the actions required to move towards its realisation

Zur Verminderung von Spurenstoffeinträgen in Oberflächengewässer wurden bereits einige Kläranlagen in Deutschland und der Schweiz um eine weitergehende Reinigungsstufe (Ozon oder Aktivkohle) erweitert. Zur Erzielung einer gleichbleibenden Spurenstoffelimination und einer gleichzeitigen Vermeidung von Fehldosierungen (Kosten, Rohstoffeinsatz) werden verlässliche Messverfahren und robuste MSR-Konzepte (Mess-, Regel- und Steuerung) benötigt. Im Rahmen des Projekts „MeReZon" (Schnelle und zuverlässige Messtechnik und Steuer-/Regelkonzepte für eine weitergehende Abwasserreinigung) wurde an einer Pilot-Ozonanlage zur Behandlung von gereinigtem Abwasser untersucht, unter welchen Randbedingungen eine verlässliche Onlinemessung möglich ist. Dabei wurde u.a. die Leistungsfähigkeit eines neu entwickelten Ultraschallreinigungsmoduls zur Vermeidung einer Messwertdrift durch Fouling untersucht und mit den Sonden bzw. Reinigungsmodulen anderer Hersteller in verschiedenen Konfigurationen verglichen. Dabei wurden deutliche Unterschiede festgestellt. Darauf aufbauend wurde das bestehende MSR-Konzept der Ozonanlage optimiert und ein alternierender Messbetrieb, d.h. abwechselnde Beschickung einer Messsonde mit Zu- bzw. Ablauf der Ozonung, implementiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass mit dem optimierten MSR-Konzept eine stabile Abnahme des SAK254 (<U+0394>SAK254) erzielt werden kann, welche mit der Spurenstoffelimination korreliert. Die erfolgreiche Umsetzung des alternierenden Messbetriebs ermöglicht die Ermittlung der SAK254 Abnahme mit nur einer Messsonde, was prinzipiell Vorteile bei einer Regelung der Ozondosis auf ein stabiles <U+0394>SAK254 mit sich bringt. Zudem konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Onlinemessung der Fluoreszenz eine praktikable Alternative zum <U+0394>SAK254 darstellt, da diese ebenfalls eine Änderung des Ozonbedarfs integral erfassen kann und mit der Spurenstoffelimination korreliert. Die gewonnenen Ergebnisse bieten Messgeräteherstellern wertvolle Anhaltspunkte wie sie ihre Onlinesonden und Reinigungsmodule weiter optimieren können. Das entwickelte MSR-Konzept bzw. der alternierende Messbetrieb kann von Betreibern von Ozonanlagen auf kommunalen Kläranlagen zur Optimierung bestehender oder zukünftiger Anlagen genutzt werden.

During the last decades, it has become evident that some active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) have harmful environmental impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, there is a need to decrease the amount of pharmaceutical residues that end up in the environment. Information gaps related to increased awareness of the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals in the health care sector and the promotion of sustainable consumption of pharmaceuticals have been identified in the Status Report on Pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) published by UNESCO and HELCOM in 2017. The aim of the current report is to fill in some of the identified knowledge gaps identified in the HELCOM report, specifically increasing awareness about the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals. In Sweden, there are good practices for healthcare professionals about how to consider the environmental impacts of medications already at the prescription phase, as well as guidelines for how to make the environmental information available and accessible to healthcare professionals and the public. The Swedish practices are described and evaluated, and the measures that can be implemented in the other BSR countries are formulated as recommendations. Eight recommendations were formulated through dialogues with stakeholders in Sweden. The recommendations are divided into four main areas i.e. education, databases and guidelines, dissemination of information to public, and collaboration among stakeholders. Some recommendations might be implemented without any large challenges or financial costs while other recommendations require large changes such as economic investments and changes in legislation. This report also contains information about existing practices in other countries in the Baltic Sea region (BSR), provided by the project partners in the CWPharma project. The countries in the BSR are currently at different levels when it comes to management of pharmaceuticals and their residues in the environment. Public awareness of the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals differs, as do the systems for returning leftover medications. Basic education for health care personnel regarding the environmental consequences of different medications and pharmaceutical compounds exists in most of the BSR countries but the scope and content differs. One recommendation in the report is that environmental impacts of APIs should be compiled in a national, or ideally an EU level, database. As a first step, the Baltic Sea countries could investigate the possibility to establish national interfaces to the Swedish databases “Pharmaceutical and environment” (Janusinfo) or FASS. Although the data in “Pharmaceutical and environment” and FASS are not complete, they are existing platforms which provide valuable information and gather criteria important for classification. In Sweden, there are several channels for the dissemination of information about the environmental consequences of pharmaceuticals with the aim to raise public awareness regarding this subject. Examples of actions to be considered by other countries are information campaigns driven by pharmacies for returning unused and left over medications (Germany and Finland have similar campaigns), and distribution of leaflets with information about the environmental impacts of pharmaceuticals, which have proven to be efficient in raising awareness among pharmacists, doctors and the public. The collaboration of different stakeholders is one of the foremost reasons for the progress that has been made regarding pharmaceuticals in the environment in Sweden. The Swedish Medical Production Agency has set up a Knowledge Centre for Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, providing a platform for different actors to discuss environmental issues connected to pharmaceuticals. Among these actors there is a sense of a shared environmental vision with common goals. Hence, one recommendation for the BSR countries is to investigate the possibilities of establishing similar national knowledge centers within medicine agencies, or to use existing networks as a starting point to also involve other environmental issues related to pharmaceuticals and to find new collaboration possibilities. Finally, collaboration between the EU countries is crucial to successfully implement environmental aspects in the lifecycle of the pharmaceuticals.

The overall aim of the CWPharma project is to reduce the load of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) going into the aquatic environment and especially the Baltic Sea. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are relevant point sources of APIs, as they treat the wastewater from public households, hospitals and industry of the connected catchment area. However, conventional "state-of-the-art" WWTPs can only remove some APIs, which are either easily biodegradable and/or absorbable to activated sludge, whereas other APIs can pass the WWTP with minor to no reduction. Therefore, reduction of a broad range of APIs can only be achieved by using targeted advanced treatment techniques such as ozonation or powdered and granular activated carbon, respectively, which have already been applied on full-scale for API removal in wastewater treatment in Germany and Switzerland and proven their practical and economical suitability. At the usual applied ozone doses, ozonation of secondary effluent does not mineralize (convert an organic substance into inorganic matter) but transforms organic compounds into smaller and (usually) more biodegradable compounds. Secondary effluent is a complex water matrix consisting of hundreds of different organic substances, and it is not feasible to determine all possible transformation products and oxidation by-products, which might be created by the ozonation process. Thus, utilities and water authorities sometimes struggle with the uncertainties of the ozonation process as they perceive difficulties to judge whether oxidation of the organic matrix is beneficial or if it is creating more problems. As chemical analysis of the water only provides quantitative data for known APIs and transformation products for which chemical standards are available, effect-based ecotoxicological test systems can be used to assess the integrated actual toxicity of the whole water matrix. Based on previous research compiled by Völker et al. (2019), ozonation has a positive impact on several toxicological endpoints. But there are also indications that ozonation can create negative effects for a few toxicological endpoints that can be reduced by a suitable post-treatment. However, only little knowledge is available regarding suitable post-treatments and which ecotoxicological test systems are appropriate to evaluate their impact. In addition, post-treatment options might also have beneficial impacts on water quality parameters, APIs and transformation products. Thus, this report will evaluate different aspects regarding the impact of ozonation and its posttreatment options on (i) water quality parameters, (ii) APIs and transformation products (TPs) and (iii) ecotoxicological effects. The evaluation was conducted at three WWTPs in Linköping (SE), Kalundborg (DK) and Berlin (DE) and different post-treatment options such as moving bed bioreactors (MBBR), deep-bed filters, and a constructed wetland.