Wastewater-Based Circular Economy: Water Reuse in Agriculture and Industry — A Comprehensive Review

Article Sidebar

PDF
Published: 2026-05-07
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15662/IJRPETM.2026.0903004
Keywords:
wastewater reuse, circular economy, nutrient recovery, membrane bioreactors, advanced oxidation processes, agriculture, industrial water reuse, struvite crystallization, resource recovery, sustainable water management

Main Article Content

Santunu Barua
MS in Environmental Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Manhattan University, New York, USA

Abstract

Escalating global freshwater demand driven by climate change, population growth, and industrialization necessitates transformative water management strategies. The shift from linear, end-of-pipe wastewater treatment to circular economy (CE) approaches offers significant opportunities for water security, environmental protection, and economic development. This review synthesizes two decades of research on wastewater-based circular economy (WBCE) systems, focusing on water reuse feasibility, nutrient recovery, and resource recovery potential across agricultural and industrial sectors. Globally, wastewater generation reaches 359.4 billion m³ annually, yet only 63% is collected and 52% is treated before discharge (Jones et al., 2021). This wastewater contains substantial recoverable nutrients—16.6 Tg nitrogen, 3.0 Tg phosphorus, and 6.3 Tg potassium annually—which could offset approximately 13–14% of global agricultural fertilizer demand (Qadir et al., 2020). Advanced treatment technologies such as membrane bioreactors (MBRs) and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) achieve up to 95% BOD removal, 88% nitrogen removal, and 95% phosphorus removal, significantly outperforming conventional systems (Islam, 2025). Economic assessments indicate that integrated circular systems combining nutrient recovery, energy generation, and water reuse can achieve lower life-cycle costs than conventional treatment over 20 years, despite higher upfront capital investment (Barua, 2025). However, large-scale implementation remains constrained by regulatory fragmentation, financial limitations, technological gaps, and social acceptance barriers. Overall, this review identifies key technological innovations, policy frameworks, and institutional reforms required to scale WBCE systems. Integration of advanced treatment technologies with nature-based solutions and resource recovery strategies enables simultaneous progress toward water security, circular economy transition, climate resilience, and broader sustainable development goals.

Article Details

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 3 (2026): International Journal of Research Publications in Engineering, Technology and Management

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Wastewater-Based Circular Economy: Water Reuse in Agriculture and Industry — A Comprehensive Review. (2026). International Journal of Research Publications in Engineering, Technology and Management (IJRPETM), 9(3), 1031-1046. https://doi.org/10.15662/IJRPETM.2026.0903004

References

1. Afzal, M., Arslan, M., Younus, S., Müller, J. A., Usman, M., Yasin, M., Mehmood, M. A., Mehdi, T., Islam, E., Tauseef, M., & Iqbal, S. (2024). A nature-based closed-loop wastewater treatment system at vehicle-washing facilities: From linear to circular economy. iScience. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.109361

2. Aka, R. J. N., Hossain, Md. M., Nasir, A., Zhan, Y., Zhang, X., Zhu, J., Wang, Z.-W., & Wu, S. (2024). Enhanced nutrient recovery from anaerobically digested poultry wastewater through struvite precipitation by organic acid pre-treatment and seeding in a bubble column electrolytic reactor. Water Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2024.121239

3. Aziz, K. H. H., Mustafa, F. S., Karim, M. A. H., & Hama, S. (2025). Biochar-based catalysts: An efficient and sustainable approach for water remediation from organic pollutants via advanced oxidation processes. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.126245

4. Barua, S. (2025). Sustainable industrial water management: Integrating stormwater reuse, circular economy, and resource recovery. British Journal of Environmental Studies. https://doi.org/10.32996/bjes.2025.5.3.2

5. Berbel, J., Mesa-Pérez, E., & Simón, P. (2023). Challenges for circular economy under the EU 2020/741 wastewater reuse regulation. Global Challenges. https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202200232

6. Bermúdez, L. A., Díaz, J. C. L., Martín-Pascual, J., Mar Muñío, M. del, & Poyatos, J. M. (2022). Study of the potential for agricultural reuse of urban wastewater with membrane bioreactor technology in the circular economy framework. Agronomy. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081877

7. Bermúdez, L. A., Mendoza, V. D., Díaz, J. C. O., Pascual, J. M., Mar Muñio Martínez, M. del, & Capilla, J. M. P. (2024). Investigation of the agricultural reuse potential of urban wastewater and other resources derived by using membrane bioreactor technology within the circular economy framework. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.177011

8. Carvalho, S., Eusébio, M., & Velizarov, S. (2025). Techno-economic and feasibility assessment of membrane-based wastewater treatment and reuse in the automotive industry. Separations. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations12020030

9. Chen, C.-Y., Wang, S.-W., Kim, H., Pan, S., Fan, C., & Lin, Y. J. (2021). Non-conventional water reuse in agriculture: A circular water economy. Water Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117193

10. Clark, B., Sharma, N., Apraku, E., Dong, H., & Tarpeh, W. A. (2024). Ligand exchange adsorbents for selective phosphate and total ammonia nitrogen recovery from wastewaters. Accounts of Materials Research. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1021/accountsmr.3c00290

11. Emeka, U. C., & Chikwendu, O. C. (2025). Circular economy in wastewater management: Water reuse and resource recovery strategies. International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering Management &Amp; Applied Science. https://doi.org/10.51583/ijltemas.2025.140300016

12. Feijoó, H., Estévez, S., González‐García, S., & Moreira, M. T. (2026). Insights into the environmental performance of nature-based wastewater technologies towards water and carbon neutrality. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.128657

13. Gomes, P., Pinheiro, M., Martins, J., Castro, J., Valente, T., Ribeiro, V., & Mendes, M. (2026). Circular economy: Water quality assessment for irrigation purposes in a constructed-wetland scenario. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34161-6

14. Hafiz, N. F. H., Rahman, M., Othman, M., Jaafar, J., & Abas, K. (2024). Review on phosphorus recovery as struvite from wastewater. Key Engineering Materials. https://doi.org/10.4028/p-wipB9R

15. Islam, F. A. S. (2025). Advanced wastewater treatment technologies in addressing future water scarcity through resource recovery and reuse. Journal of Engineering Research and Reports. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.9734/jerr/2025/v27i51513

16. Jain, L., & Yadav, S. (2025). Circular economy in water and waste management: Sustainable strategies for conservation. Journal of Research in Environmental and Earth Sciences. https://doi.org/10.35629/2532-11041016

17. Janpum, C., Pombubpa, N., Monshupanee, T., Incharoensakdi, A., & In-na, P. (2022). Advancement on mixed microalgal-bacterial cultivation systems for nitrogen and phosphorus recoveries from wastewater to promote sustainable bioeconomy. Journal of Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.11.008

18. Jones, E. R., Vliet, M. T. H. van, Qadir, M., & Bierkens, M. F. P. (2021). Country-level and gridded estimates of wastewater production, collection, treatment and reuse. Earth System Science Data. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-237-2021

19. Kanchanapiya, P., & Tantisattayakul, T. (2022). Wastewater reclamation trends in thailand. Water Science & Technology. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.2022.375

20. Kostakis, I., Papadas, D., Smol, M., & Tsagarakis, K. P. (2025). Circular economy policies for water and wastewater. Water Policy. https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2025.077

21. Koumaki, E., Konomi, A., Gkotsis, G., Nika, M., Seintos, T., Statiris, E., Maragou, N. C., Thomaidis, N., Kouris, N., Mamais, D., Stasinakis, A., Malamis, S., Katsou, E., & Noutsopoulos, C. (2025). Circular water management in agriculture: Screening of contaminants of emerging concern in a real-world water-soil-crop system and human health risk assessment. Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.138167

22. Kurniawan, T. A., Bustos-Terrones, Y., Loaiza, J. G., Dissanayake, K., Onn, C. W., Abass, K. S., Jumaniyozov, K., Oktriono, K., Wong, W. K., Kusworo, T., Zhang, D., & Kusuma, H. S. (2025). Applying nutrient recovery from unused wastewater to overcome fertilizer shortage for global food security. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127543

23. Liu, B., Knopf, A., Watts, M. J., Payne, E. M., & Linden, K. G. (2025). Improving water quality for inland potable reuse via O3/biologically active filtration followed by UV/advanced oxidation. Water Reuse. https://doi.org/10.2166/wrd.2025.023

24. Liu, W., Qian, J., Ding, H., Li, J., Liu, J., & Zhou, W. (2024). Synergistic interactions of light and dark biofilms in rotating algal biofilm system for enhanced aquaculture wastewater treatment. Bioresource Technology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130654

25. Mannina, G., Gulhan, H., & Ni, B. (2022). Water reuse from wastewater treatment: The transition towards circular economy in the water sector. Bioresource Technology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2022.127951

26. Masjoudi, M., & Mohseni, M. (2023). Photolysis of chloramines in vacuum-UV and vacuum-UV/chlorine advanced oxidation processes for removal of 1,4-dioxane: Effect of water matrix, kinetic modeling, and implications for potable reuse. Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131454

27. Mayor, Á., Vinardell, S., Ganesan, K., Bacardí, C., Cortina, J., & Valderrama, C. (2023). Life-cycle assessment and techno-economic evaluation of the value chain in nutrient recovery from wastewater treatment plants for agricultural application. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164452

28. Mazik, A., Stanek, P., Malczewska, B., & Lochyński, P. (2025). Towards circular economy solutions: Managing wastewater from paint production. Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172310515

29. Mbavarira, T., & Grimm, C. (2021). A systemic view on circular economy in the water industry: Learnings from a belgian and dutch case. Sustainability. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063313

30. Morillas-España, A., López-Serna, R., Chikri, L. Y. R., Jiménez, J. J., Lafarga, T., Uggetti, E., Acién, G., & González-López, C. (2025). Microalgae wastewater treatment: Pharmaceutical removal and biomass valorization. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124942

31. Ni, L., Wang, P., Westerhoff, P., Luo, J., Wang, K., & Wang, Y. (2024). Mechanisms and strategies of advanced oxidation processes for membrane fouling control in MBRs: Membrane-foulant removal versus mixed-liquor improvement. Environmental Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c02659

32. Odibo, A., Janpum, C., Pombubpa, N., Monshupanee, T., Incharoensakdi, A., Rehman, Z. ur, & In-na, P. (2024). Microalgal-bacterial immobilized co-culture as living biofilters for nutrient recovery from synthetic wastewater and their potential as biofertilizer. Bioresource Technology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130509

33. Osman, A. I., Hosny, M., Eltaweil, A. S., Omar, S., Elgarahy, A. M., Farghali, M., Yap, P., Wu, Y. S., Nagandran, S., Batumalaie, K., Gopinath, S. C. B., John, O. D., Sekar, M., Saikia, T., Karunanithi, P., Hatta, M. H. M., & Akinyede, K. A. (2023). Microplastic sources, formation, toxicity and remediation: A review. Environmental Chemistry Letters. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-023-01593-3

34. Paliaga, S., Muscarella, S., Alduina, R., Badalucco, L., Fischer, P. T. B., Leto, Y. D., Gallo, G., Gaglio, R., Mineo, A., Laudicina, V. A., & Mannina, G. (2025). Resource recovery from wastewater treatment: Effects of water reuse and slow-release fertilizers on faba bean within palermo university (italy) case study. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.123839

35. Polak, D. W., Kamocki, S., & Szwast, M. (2025). Evaluation of the potential of metal–organic compounds ZIF-8 and F300 in a membrane filtration–adsorption process for the removal of antibiotics from water. Antibiotics. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14060619

36. Qadir, M., Drechsel, P., Jiménez, B., Kim, Y., Pramanik, A., Mehta, P., & Olaniyan, O. (2020). Global and regional potential of wastewater as a water, nutrient and energy source. Natural Resources Forum. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12187

37. Satyam, S., & Patra, S. (2025). The evolving landscape of advanced oxidation processes in wastewater treatment: Challenges and recent innovations. Processes. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13040987

38. Shrivastava, V., & Laasri, I. (2025). Nutrient recovery strategies and agronomic performance in circular farming: A comprehensive review. Nitrogen. https://doi.org/10.3390/nitrogen6030080

39. Singh, B. J., Chakraborty, A., & Sehgal, R. (2023). A systematic review of industrial wastewater management: Evaluating challenges and enablers. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119230

40. Smol, M., Mejía, A., Gastaldi, M., & D’Adamo, I. (2024). Environmental indicators for assessment of circular economy (CE) implementation in the water and wastewater sector. Business Strategy and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4090

41. Śniatała, B., Al-Hazmi, H., Sobotka, D., Zhai, J., & Mąkinia, J. (2024). Advancing sustainable wastewater management: A comprehensive review of nutrient recovery products and their applications. Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173446

42. Stankiewicz, K., Boroń, P., Prajsnar, J., Żelazny, M., Heliasz, M., Hunter, W., & Lenart-Boroń, A. (2024). Second life of water and wastewater in the context of circular economy - do the membrane bioreactor technology and storage reservoirs make the recycled water safe for further use? Science of the Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170995

43. Szymański, K. (2024). Reuse of treated municipal wastewater for the production of water for agriculture. Rocznik Ochrona Srodowiska. https://doi.org/10.54740/ros.2024.059

44. Thi, M. P., & Bui, X. D. (2025). Selection enhanced nutrient removal from pig farm wastewater using co-immobilized chlorella vulgaris and azospirillum brasilense Azo09 in alginate beads. European Journal of Biology and Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbio.2025.6.2.541

45. Tshangana, C., & Muleja, A. A. (2023). Graphene oxide quantum dots membrane: A hybrid filtration-advanced technology system to enhance process of wastewater reclamation. Chemical Papers. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11696-023-03187-3

46. Umetani, I., Sposób, M., & Tiron, O. (2023). Indigenous green microalgae for wastewater treatment: Nutrient removal and resource recovery for biofuels and bioproducts. Bioenergy Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-023-10611-9

47. Vivas, M. A. U., Seguí-Amórtegui, L., Pérez, C. T., & Rojas, H. G.-G. (2023). Technical–economic evaluation of water reuse at the WWTP el salitre (bogotá, colombia): Example of circular economy. Water. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15193374

48. Yang, M., Chen, L., Wang, J., Msigwa, G., Osman, A. I., Fawzy, S., Rooney, D. W., & Yap, P. (2022). Circular economy strategies for combating climate change and other environmental issues. Environmental Chemistry Letters. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-022-01499-6

49. Zhang, C., Yuan, R., Chen, H., Zhou, B., Cui, Z., & Zhu, B. (2024). Advancements in inorganic membrane filtration coupled with advanced oxidation processes for wastewater treatment. Molecules. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29174267

50. Zhang, G., Li, W., Li, D., Wang, S., & Lv, L. (2024). Integration of ammonium assimilation with denitrifying phosphorus removal for efficient nutrient management in wastewater treatment. Journal of Environmental Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120116

51. Zhang, M., Han, F., Li, Y., Liu, Z., Chen, H., Li, Z., Li, Q., & Zhou, W. (2021). Nitrogen recovery by a halophilic ammonium-assimilating microbiome: A new strategy for saline wastewater treatment. Water Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2021.117832