The legal regulations of sewage sludge management

Both preliminary and excessive sludge can contain microorganisms and toxic compounds (heavy metals and organic compounds) which may be potentially hazardous for the biota and environment. The objective of the paper is to present the technological possibilities of sludge utilization in terms of continuously changing regulations. Among the presented methods of sewage sludge utilization, a thermal one seems to be the most developed and long-term way. The landfiling of sludge will be not economical reasonable and also become illegal in the nearest future. Agricultural application (as a fertilizer or recultivation), although consistent with the idea of organic matter circulation in the environment, will be more and more difficult due to restrictive requirements.