Phosphorus (P) is an essential and non-substitutable building block in all living organisms and is needed primarily as fertilizer for high-yield agriculture. The finite phosphate ore reserves are limited to a few, partly politically unstable regions in the world and are increasingly contaminated (cadmium, uranium). Germany, as well as almost all countries of the European Union (EU), has no raw phosphate deposits of its own and is therefore completely dependent on imports. This leads to major risks in terms of security of supply and vulnerability to price fluctuations. Phosphorus was therefore placed on the list of critical raw materials by the EU back in 2014, which is intended to provide an incentive for recycling activities. In this context, the recovery of phosphorus from P-rich waste streams such as wastewater and sewage sludge plays an important role in securing future supplies. The German government has therefore anchored the recovery of phosphorus in the German Resource Efficiency Program (ProgRess II) as an important building block for establishing a resource-efficient circular economy and created the legal framework with the amendment to the Sewage Sludge Ordinance, which came into force in October 2017. This development underscores the great need for innovative, economical and sustainable solutions for P recycling. The aim of the Regional Phosphorus Recycling (RePhoR) measure funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is to,more…