The use of sewage sludge and its ash in construction and agriculture industry: A review

Abstract

Harmful sewage sludge generated from wastewater treatment plant being disposed to landfill has long caused major anxiety in local municipalities around the world. In line with the concept of sustainable development practice being adopted around the world, more efforts has looked deeper into ways to reuse this waste material and one of it was the ash generated from this material. This paper review the use of sewage sludge and sewage sludge ash (SSA) in construction and agriculture industry through a multifaceted review of previous researches done in various industries. Besides reducing the amount of waste in landfill, this solution can also contribute to the reduction of natural resources consumption. It examines in detail how the various burning temperature can affect the sewage sludge ash as well as the potential usage of this ash in asphalt, concrete and cement mixture, soil stabilization and agriculture either as a substitute material, or as a raw and enhancement material. The various chemical composition in this ash enable the SSA to be used in application in multiple industry as each of the respective chemical composition bring enhancement to the end product respectively.