Treatment Wetlands as the Implementation of the Circular Economy

The aim of the circular economy is to reduce the impact of production and products on the environment by selecting the appropriate components and use the proper process design enabling reuse of products. On 2nd December 2015, the European Commission adopted a package of actions to implement the above-mentioned objectives. Treatment wetlands (TWs) used for treating water and wastewater as well as for dewatering and stabilization of sewage sludge are part of the circular economy. The aim of the study is to present the importance of TWs as new, essential elements in the creation of assumptions for circular economy idea. In future, the approach to water and wastewater management will require significant changes. In order to meet the requirements of the circular economy, the current way of collecting, discharging and treating of wastewater will have to be changed. In the new approach, it will be necessary to separate the wastewater into useful and harmful fractions in the place of origin. Such systems will have to be designed for a particular source, with the possibility of re-use of water. Currently TWs are widely accepted as a technology for treatment of various types of wastewater and as water protection systems, as well as facilities for dewatering and stabilization of sewage sludge. However new goals and requirements appears with changes of approach and the focus on the circular economy. These requirements will probably relate to the reuse of water (gray water treatment, treatment and storage of rainwater, removal of persistent organic pollutants with low concentrations, treatment of wastewater the third stage in WWTPs), recovery of nutrients (production of fertilizers from sewage sludge, recovery of phosphorus compounds from wastewater using new fillings ensuring effective adsorption), energy production (TWs for treatment of leachate from digestion chamber and biomass production) and ecosystems in urban areas. The appropriate configuration of TWs or their combination with other available technologies assures that the fulfill of mentioned-above goals will be possible and more efficiency and cost-effective solutions will be created. The application of TWs according to the circular economy can be found in many places. The use of TWs in the circular economy is reasonable and possible, however further research should be done.