EOLIA-SLUDGE: a Novel ‘Triple Bottom Line’ decision supporting tool for the sustainable management of wastewater treatment Biosolids

Together with wastewater treatment improvement, the production of wastewater treatment (WWT) sludge is increasing fast. Consequently, professionals have developed, and are developing, different technical solutions, either to reduce the production of WWT sludge, to condition it or to find new recovery routes. Looking at combinations of technologies, a large panel of management solutions is thus now available.In order to allow for sound and sustainable decisions to be made, a software tool was developed. The aim of EOLIA-SLUDGE is to identify the best available WWT sludge management solutions in terms of environmental performances, taking into account specific local conditions. The tool also allows identifying environmental improvement alternatives for each of the WWT sludge management solution selected.The article will present three examples of the information drawn from the use of EOLIASLUDGE in the process of sustainable decision making: The comparison of the environmental performances of different WWT sludge management solutions envisaged in a specific local context; and the identification of environmentally impacting processes within a selected WWT sludge management solution.