SDG Summary:

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Goal 2 aims to eliminate global hunger by 2030. Since 2015, there has been an alarming increase in hunger and food insecurity worldwide, exacerbated by factors such as pandemics, conflict, climate change, and growing inequalities. Hunger and malnutrition lead to lower productivity, increased susceptibility to disease, and limited opportunities to improve livelihoods.

Problem Identification:

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Conflict, climate shocks, rising living costs, civil insecurity, and declining food production have all contributed to food scarcity and high food prices. Issues such as soil degradation are major players, with one third of the world's soil being nutritionally degraded. Soil losing its chemical and biological qualities can have disastrous effects on the delicate interactions of plants and animals that it supports causing ecosystem collapse. Human activities such as intensive farming, deforestation and overgrazing have led to rapid soil degradation as the nutrients are leached away from it, causing crops that grow on the matter to be less healthy affecting plant life and microbiomes.

Our Part in the Solution

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Targeting soil degradation would be a huge part in achieving zero hunger through the medium of sustainable agriculture. Using the phosphatase enzyme PafA, this would enable us to recover inorganic phosphate ions from wastewater. This would allow accessible phosphate to be returned to soil to regain its fertility, allowing for increased crop yields to be achieved. A study by Liang et al showed that crop yields increased notably when compared to those grown without use of phosphorus fertilisers. Utilisation of phosphate fertiliser caused yields of wheat increased by up to 38% and up to 16% for maize. Phosphate is an essential nutrient and using fertilisers that contain reclaimed phosphate rather than mined phosphate would increase agricultural productivity through a suitable practise. Thus mitigating food scarcity as well as pollution derived from unsustainable mining (see SDG #12).

Feedback from Relevant SDG Stakeholder:

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We talked to multiple owners of Allotments within Heely and Meersbrook Allotment Site, where we were able to collect a variety of soil samples that were tended to by different people.

Many gardeners incorporate organic materials such as compost and manures to enrich their soil. These additions not only improve soil structure and moisture retention, but they also contain essential nutrients, notably phosphate. Therefore, by encouraging the use of reclaimed phosphate through our filtration column technology, we help these farmers consistently enrich their soils, increasing crop productivity and sustainability.

Composting is a key aspect of allotment residents' soil management methods; Leigh Cherry, a gardener we spoke to, has a practice of making homemade compost which demonstrates a dedication to recycling organic waste into useful soil nutrients. Our project supports their endeavour by incorporating phosphate more into their composting practices via the introduction of reclaimed phosphate as a new source, helping them develop a more cyclical practice with reduced waste alongside improving the nutrient profile of the soil and ensuring healthier crop yields.

Cultivators understand how important phosphate is for soil fertility and crop health.Through utilising processes that recover and reincorporate phosphate from wastewater, our concept can directly assist these gardeners in rejuvenating their soils with inorganic phosphate. This ensures that they can maintain optimal plant growth conditions and maximise harvests, addressing local food security challenges.

SDG Summary:

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Access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene is a fundamental human right, and a necessity for health and wellbeing. As global temperatures rise due to climate change, water scarcity is projected to increase. Water is also essential for poverty reduction, food security, peace, ecosystems, and education. Water demand has outpaced population growth, with climate change only accelerating an already critical problem with major societal repercussions. Countries continue to face challenges related to water scarcity, pollution, and ecosystem degradation.

Problem Identification:

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The lack of clean water and sanitation are inextricably linked to phosphate pollution, a major driver of eutrophication—the excessive growth of algae in aquatic environments. Eutrophication is caused primarily by the introduction of excess nutrients, including phosphorus, into water bodies. This nutrient influx causes algal blooms, which can severely disrupt ecosystems, degrade water quality, and endanger biodiversity.

Phosphate pollution comes from a variety of sources, including agricultural runoff, wastewater discharges, and urban stormwater. Excessive phosphorus in water bodies promotes algal growth, resulting in harmful algal blooms that eventually deplete oxygen levels as the algae decompose. This depletion causes "dead zones," which are areas where there is insufficient dissolved oxygen to support aquatic life, resulting in the death of fish and other organisms. The consequences of eutrophication go beyond ecological damage; they include public health concerns and poor water quality for human consumption and recreational use.

To counteract the negative effects of phosphate pollution, effective wastewater management and nutrient recovery practices must be prioritised. By implementing technologies that improve nutrient recovery from wastewater, we can significantly reduce phosphorus loading into aquatic systems through reducing phosphate levels remaining in water sources. Such measures are critical for maintaining clean water and sanitation standards, supporting ecosystem health, and creating a balanced environment for wildlife and humans alike.

Our Part in the Solution

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The enzymatic conversion of organic phosphates improves the efficiency of phosphate removal from wastewater, allowing a greater proportion of these nutrients to be retrieved. This process is critical for reducing the nutrient load that causes eutrophication, thereby benefiting aquatic ecosystems. Wastewater treatment facilities can achieve targeted nutrient management while avoiding extensive infrastructure modifications by implementing specialised filtration systems that focus on phosphate removal.

In addition to reducing pollution, recovering inorganic phosphates from wastewater provides an opportunity for nutrient recycling in agricultural applications. This practice supports sustainable practices by effectively closing the nutrient loop and reducing reliance on synthetic fertilisers. As a result, implementing enzyme-enhanced filtration not only improves water quality in receiving bodies, but also reduces the risk of harmful algal blooms. Such improvements protect aquatic ecosystems and promote biodiversity, resulting in a healthier environment overall.

Feedback from Relevant SDG Stakeholder:

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We consulted with industry professionals and regulatory bodies to get valuable feedback on our approach. Notably, Dr. Eleni Routoula from the Chemical and Engineering Department of the University of Sheffield contributed valuable insights that had a significant impact on our project.

Dr. Routoula emphasised the practical value of enzymatic phosphate removal in wastewater management. She informed us that existing technologies frequently struggle with efficient nutrient retrieval, being unable to mitigate eutrophication. Her feedback highlighted the importance of innovations like our filtration column, which can improve nutrient recovery without requiring significant changes to existing infrastructure. This is especially important in light of SDG #6.

Furthermore, our interactions with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) of the United States of America demonstrated the state's commitment to strict water quality standards. The FDEP showed their support for technologies that reduce phosphate pollution from wastewater discharges while also ensuring compliance with existing environmental regulations. Feedback from them acknowledged our filtration system's ability to reduce downstream impact, protecting both public health and aquatic ecosystems.

Crucially, the Department explained how such filtration systems could help manage nutrient loading, which aligns with their goals of protecting water resources and promoting sustainable practices. They emphasised that reducing phosphate runoff is critical for maintaining water quality, which is consistent with our mission to address phosphorus pollution at its source.The department emphasised how efficient phosphate removal benefits aquatic biodiversity. By reducing algae blooms, we can protect various species and maintain the ecological balance in water systems.

SDG Summary:

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Goal 12 focuses on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns to support current and future generations' livelihoods. Despite limited resources, our planet's population continues to increase. If the global population reaches 9.8 billion by 2050, it will require nearly three planets to sustain current lifestyles. Phosphate levels are finite and will soon be completely depleted, so we must start reusing existing phosphate from waste waters and transition to a more cyclical economy.

Problem Identification:

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The issue of responsible phosphate resource production and consumption has reached a tipping point as global phosphate mineral reserves deplete. Inorganic phosphate is an essential component of artificial fertilisers used in modern agriculture. As a result, a severe shortage poses an immediate threat to food security, with the possibility of widespread malnutrition and starvation. Phosphate mining practices used today are unsustainable, causing severe environmental degradation such as habitat destruction, soil erosion, and water contamination. These practices also pose significant public health risks, exposing miners and nearby communities to toxic dust and chemicals. The depletion of phosphate mineral reserves has exacerbated economic pressures, resulting in skyrocketing prices for inorganic phosphate fertilisers. This rising cost not only jeopardises agricultural productivity, but also disproportionately affects smallholder farmers and developing countries, which rely heavily on affordable fertilisers for food production.

Our Part in the Solution

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Our approach of a specialised filtration column integrated into existing water treatment methods would target organic phosphate from wastewater streams, thereby mitigating its environmental impact while simultaneously crafting a valuable resource; inorganic phosphate.

The proposed filtration converts organic phosphate into its inorganic forms. This conversion is critical, as inorganic phosphate is the form readily available for plant uptake and is essential for effective fertilisation practices. By facilitating this transformation, the column not only addresses the problem of organic phosphate accumulation in water bodies—an issue that contributes to eutrophication and water quality degradation—but also contributes to a resource-efficient cycle. This reuse not only decreases the demand for the synthesis of inorganic phosphate fertilisers but also lessens the environmental and social impacts associated with phosphate mining, by providing an alternative with considerably less environmental impact.The reduction of mining practices also is essential for alleviating the issue of habitat destruction, water contamination and ensuring sustainable land management. The end product of this process, inorganic phosphate, can be reintroduced into agricultural soils as a sustainable fertiliser alternative, thereby closing the nutrient loop and encouraging a more circular economy. By promoting a cyclical system, we can enhance food security, reduce the environmental footprint of agriculture, and pave the way for responsible phosphate consumption.

Feedback from Relevant SDG Stakeholder:

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We sought insights from industry experts to refine our approach and ensure its practical applicability and had a key conversation with Dr. Eleni Routoula from the Chemical and Engineering Department at the University of Sheffield, whose feedback on the potential of our solution was invaluable.

One of the key points of our discussion was the importance of enzyme immobilisation. Dr. Routoula stated that properly attaching enzymes to appropriate carriers improves their stability and reusability, which is completely consistent with our mission of developing a sustainable and efficient filtration column. This approach not only improves our system's efficiency in converting organic phosphate, but it also addresses larger concerns about resource conservation.

Furthermore, Dr. Routoula stated that our focus on reusing organic phosphates has the potential to transform how industries deal with phosphate management. By incorporating our filtration technology into wastewater treatment practices, we can reduce the environmental impacts of conventional phosphate mining, such as habitat destruction and water contamination. This reinforces the goal of promoting circular economies, in which waste materials are repurposed, reducing the dependency on finite phosphate resources. We also spoke to John Godber from Nutriens, a mining company, and he mentioned the effects of reapplication of biowaste as fertiliser and the issues it would present. He mentioned that the sector faces PFAS contamination concerns, particularly in the United States, where water treatment sludge contains hazardous chemicals detected in alarmingly high proportions in wildlife. This issue has sparked worries about environmental damage and the safe recovery of nutrients from sewage sludge. Mentioning to John about the effect of reused organophosphates also prompted the ethical consideration on how this would affect the number of mining jobs that would no longer be required. The increase in reuse of inorganic phosphate would cause demand for newly synthesised fertiliser to decrease, causing supply requirements to fall and possibly lead to redundancies occurring in companies like Nutriens.

SDG Summary:

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Responsible development fostered by the Sustainable Development Goals can only be achieved with a strong commitment to international partnership and cooperation. The global 2030 Agenda urges both developed and developing nations to take action in order to guarantee that every stakeholder is accounted for Governments, business, and civil society must work together in order to achieve this. Developed nations must fulfil their official commitments to provide development assistance, and all parties involved must mobilise both current and new resources.

Our Part in the Solution

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Throughout our project we have been involved with many professionals, including those that represent governments, local communities and academics. This has helped us to realise our project in a more realistic and beneficial fashion for its end goal of phosphate reclamation from wastewater. This has aided us in many ways such as altering the implementation of the enzymes in which way to immobilise them as well as advice in the process of purifying and refining the different enzyme variants. Involvement with Conservation X Labs (ConX) meant that our project was selected as a finalist for the Con X Tech Prize: The Amazon.

Feedback from Relevant SDG Stakeholder:

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As one of the 20 finalists in the Amazon challenge, we have been put into contact with other teams and past finalists, as well as them providing financial support to our team (so big thanks to Conservation X for their ongoing support!). Conservation X helped put us in contact with Leigh Cassidy from Nibeenabe (Home Page (nibeenabe.co.uk))- winners of the Earthshot prize. She developed a system for collecting heavy metals from water runoff from mining in the Amazon. This prevented further heavy metal contamination in an already heavily polluted water system, as well as reclaiming the heavy metals to generate an additional revenue source for the miners. This incentivised their engagement with preventing pollution, whereas previously it would have cost them money to prevent this sort of pollution, often making it unaffordable. Leigh advised us that in order to make the system of removing phosphate from water accessible globally, we need to consider that there are different wastewater systems locally, and in many cases there may be none. We had initially considered focusing on fertiliser runoff from farmland, however due to her experience of working with runoff, she advised us that collecting all the runoff may not be feasible in many locations. For our initial ideas, she advised we focus on integrating into already existing wastewater treatment facilities as this would mean less infrastructure would need to be developed. In the future, it would be helpful to think about how we make this system more accessible to more remote areas.