Decision support toolbox

The BONUS RETURN decision-support toolbox offers 16 tools to help decision-makers transition to a circular economy by adopting eco-technologies for nutrient and carbon recovery. It covers the entire innovation lifecycle, from identifying criteria through social innovation and multi-criteria analysis to promoting existing technologies via sustainable and circular public procurement. The guide also details methods for supporting pre-commercial innovation, such as innovation competitions, market surveys, independent comparative analyses, and testbed trials. It concludes by framing these tools within a Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) approach to create long-term strategic incentives and co-benefits for the Baltic Sea Region.

• The transition to a circular economy requires shifting mindsets regarding waste and by-products through dialogue between decision-makers and the public to enable the recovery of resources from wastewater and agricultural streams.
• Social innovation is essential for creating solutions that are economically feasible for providers, provide suitable properties for buyers, and are socio-culturally accepted by consumers.
• Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) allows for the transparent assessment of eco-technologies across five sustainability dimensions: environmental, economic, socio-cultural, technical function, and health and hygiene.
• The project developed a Readiness Level (RL) framework, ranging from RL 1 to RL 9, to help buyers identify whether to use ordinary procurement (for RL 9) or innovation procurement (for RL 8 and below).
• Public procurement is a significant driver for the circular economy, with the potential to pull high-sustainability and circular performance products into the market by moving beyond a focus on the lowest cost.
• Innovation procurement includes Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) for early-stage research and development, and Public Procurement of Innovation (PPI) for market-ready solutions (RL 8) that need a first public customer.
• An innovation competition was used to identify and support emerging eco-technologies, resulting in three winners: RAVITA (developed by HSY), TerraNova® Ultra (developed by TerraNova Energy), and BiOPhree® (developed by Aquacare).
• Market surveys for the RAVITA process indicated that while there is interest in phosphorus recovery, implementation is dependent on regulations such as mandatory phosphorus recovery or a ban on sewage sludge spreading.
• Independent comparative analysis of TerraNova® Ultra against sewage sludge mono-incineration showed that TerraNova® Ultra produced fewer waste streams and had a less complicated treatment scheme, though mono-incineration had a better energy balance and higher phosphorus recovery rate (95% vs 80%).
• Testbed trials for BiOPhree® at the Knivsta WWTP validated that the technology could achieve less than 10 µg TP/l in treated effluent, but revealed that routine maintenance needs were higher than the developer's technical documentation stated.
• The Technological Innovation Systems (TIS) approach helps identify structural barriers and drivers by analyzing actors, institutions, networks, and technological factors to create long-term strategic collaboration.
• Conceptualizing co-benefits—where a single policy measure addresses multiple goals—can open 'windows of opportunity' to advance environmental goals as side effects of higher-priority political agendas.

APA

Ahlström, M., Bigum, L., Norefjäll, F., Stenbeck, S., & Barquet, K. (2020). Decision support toolbox. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/bonus-return-decision-support-toolbox-d5.2.pdf

Chicago

Ahlström, Marcus, Lukas Bigum, Fredric Norefjäll, Sten Stenbeck, and Karina Barquet. Decision support toolbox. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2020. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/bonus-return-decision-support-toolbox-d5.2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ahlström |first1=Marcus |last2=Bigum |first2=Lukas |last3=Norefjäll |first3=Fredric |last4=Stenbeck |first4=Sten |last5=Barquet |first5=Karina |title=Decision support toolbox |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=31 March 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/bonus-return-decision-support-toolbox-d5.2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ahlstrm2020decision, author = {Ahlström, Marcus and Bigum, Lukas and Norefjäll, Fredric and Stenbeck, Sten and Barquet, Karina}, title = {{Decision support toolbox}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/bonus-return-decision-support-toolbox-d5.2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }