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The Hessian Ministry for the Environment is funding a forward-looking infrastructure project with 25.64 million euros
With the official handover of a grant award of 25.64 million euros by State Secretary Michael Ruhl, the starting signal has been given for one of the central infrastructure projects of municipal public services in southern Hesse: the construction of a sewage sludge mono-treatment plant (KSMB) at the waste incineration plant in Darmstadt .
By 2029, the existing waste incineration plant will be expanded to include the new facility. The goal is to ensure the safe, regional, and sustainable disposal of municipal sewage sludge from the region, while simultaneously recovering the strategically important raw material phosphorus. This expansion is driven by the revised regulations of the Sewage Sludge, Fertilizer, and Fertilizer Ordinance, which severely restrict the agricultural use of sewage sludge.
“Phosphorus recovery is a key component of a functioning circular economy, a central pillar of our economy,” emphasized State Secretary Michael Ruhl at the handover of the funding notification. “Here, we are supporting a project that combines ecological responsibility and technological innovation.”
Central solution for southern Hesse
The project is being carried out by the Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Südhessen (ZAS), the waste management association for southern Hesse, which already thermally treats the residual waste of its members – including the Darmstadt-Dieburg district, the city of Darmstadt, and the Odenwald district – as well as other municipal partners at the Darmstadt waste incineration plant. Back in 2020, the ZAS commissioned a feasibility study, funded by the state of Hesse, on sewage sludge disposal with phosphorus recovery.
Based on this, the construction of a rotary kiln with a capacity of approximately 60,000 tons of sewage sludge per year planned. ENTEGA AG , which handles operations and management for ZAS, is also responsible for project management of the KSMB construction.
“Given the legal framework, it is right and necessary to implement a central, municipal solution for southern Hesse,” explains District Administrator Klaus Peter Schellhaas, Chairman of the ZAS Association. The goal is a regionally anchored, sustainable, long-term safe and cost-effective sewage sludge utilization system without profit motive.
Significance for Darmstadt and the region
The project is also of particular importance for the science city of Darmstadt. City treasurer André Schellenberg, deputy chairman of the ZAS association, points to the long-term disposal security and the added ecological value: The plant enables the sustainable utilization of Darmstadt's sewage sludge into a phosphorus-containing fertilizer.
A total of 27 municipalities and wastewater associations from southern Hesse and neighboring regions, representing approximately 550,000 inhabitants, have joined the project. Together, they will ensure the planned plant operates at full capacity. The annual output corresponds to about 6,000 tons of phosphorus-containing ash , or roughly 1,000 tons of phosphate . This will allow a portion of the phosphorus, which has previously been almost entirely imported, to be returned to the regional nutrient cycle. The long-term goal is the production of a regional fertilizer.
The total investment for planning and construction of the plant amounts to approximately 60 million euros . Until commissioning, sewage sludge will continue to be processed via existing disposal routes. From 2029, ZAS will assume operation and disposal responsibility.
With the sewage sludge mono-treatment plant, the Zweckverband Abfallwirtschaft Südhessen (South Hesse Waste Management Association) is making a significant contribution to resource conservation, the implementation of legal requirements and the strengthening of a sustainable municipal circular economy in South Hesse.
(DARMSTADT – RED/PM/ENTEGA)
Featured image: Pictured from left to right: Managing Director of ZAS – Dr. Julia Klinger / District Administrator Klaus Peter Schellhaas (Chairman of the ZAS Association) / State Secretary Michael Ruhl (Hessian Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, Viticulture, Forestry, Hunting and Home Affairs) / City Treasurer of the City of Darmstadt, André Schellenberg (Deputy Chairman of the ZAS Association). Photo: ZAS, Elias Hammer
