Sanitation Policies and Regulatory Frameworks for Reuse of Nutrients in Wastewater, Human Excreta and Greywater

This document contains the proceedings of a two-day workshop held in August 2009 by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and EcoSanRes. The workshop focused on the legal, policy, and regulatory frameworks required to promote the sustainable reuse of nutrients from wastewater, human excreta, and greywater across various global regions.

• There is a significant gap between national legislation and local enforcement regarding nutrient reuse. Even in countries like Sweden, where enabling legislation exists in the Environmental Code, these rules are rarely enforced by national, regional, or local authorities.
• Successful sanitation policies must be technology-neutral to allow for innovation, though they can use financial incentives to steer users toward preferred solutions. For example, Norrköping municipality used financial incentives to promote urine-diverting (UD) toilets.
• In the Philippines, the Clean Water Act of 2004 primarily focuses on pollution control, but the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) were influenced to include ecological sanitation (Ecosan), providing exemptions from wastewater charges and liabilities for those using Ecosan.
• Uganda faces challenges where national policies on ecological sanitation are not implemented at the municipal level because politicians are reluctant to enforce laws that might make them unpopular with voters.
• In Colombia, the legal framework for reuse is limited; the technical regulations (RAS-2000) view waterborne systems as the only permanent option for urban areas, treating alternatives as temporary. Furthermore, 'excreta' is not mentioned in policy documents, and UDDTs are categorized as latrines, which creates a negative impression.
• China has a long history of excreta reuse in rural areas, but rapid urbanization and the rise of industrial fertilizers since the 1980s have decreased the use of organic fertilizers to less than 30%. Current challenges include the high cost of transport for nutrient reuse in urban settings.
• South Africa's sanitation challenges include a lack of ownership resulting from the promotion of free services. While the country has a Right to Water in its constitution and a Water Services Act 1998, there is no specific legislation governing the reuse of nutrients and excreta.
• In Mexico, human excreta is legally classified as hazardous waste due to pathogenic content, which prohibits its use for crops intended for human consumption. This forces some reuse activities to occur 'under the radar'.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines for the Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta and Greywater provide a risk-management framework to protect health by recommending minimum safe practice requirements and identifying exposure points in the sanitation chain.
• Effective policy change requires 'champions'—individuals or institutions that can advocate for reuse within existing hierarchies—and the involvement of the agricultural sector early in the process to create demand for nutrients.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2009). Sanitation Policies and Regulatory Frameworks for Reuse of Nutrients in Wastewater, Human Excreta and Greywater. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/EcoSanRes_Policy_Workshop_proceedings-24-25-aug-2009.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Sanitation Policies and Regulatory Frameworks for Reuse of Nutrients in Wastewater, Human Excreta and Greywater. 2009. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/EcoSanRes_Policy_Workshop_proceedings-24-25-aug-2009.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Sanitation Policies and Regulatory Frameworks for Reuse of Nutrients in Wastewater, Human Excreta and Greywater |date=2009 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/EcoSanRes_Policy_Workshop_proceedings-24-25-aug-2009.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2009sanitation, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Sanitation Policies and Regulatory Frameworks for Reuse of Nutrients in Wastewater, Human Excreta and Greywater}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2009}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/EcoSanRes_Policy_Workshop_proceedings-24-25-aug-2009.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }