Strategy for land application of sewage sludge in Norway

The Norwegian public health and environmental authorities have launched a regulation for sewage sludge handling and disposal aiming at increasing the amount of sludge to be utilised on land areas. The strategy for achieving this is to secure that only high quality sludge is being offered to agriculture and green areas; the two disposal routes acceptable for land application of sludge in Norway. Most sewage treatment plants have experienced a considerable reduction in sludge heavy metals content during the last 15-20 years and the major reason for this is believed to be the continuous control of industrial effluents discharged to the municipal sewerage system and the implementation of cleaner technologies in the industry. Health risks and odour nuisance from the sewage sludge will be almost eliminated by employing treatment processes with the main purpose of disinfection and stabilisation of the sludge.