Sustainable Development Goals

Overview

Pho-Bac is an idea founded on sustainability. It is a response to our unsustainable trajectory that would leave us unable to feed ourselves, unable to safely enjoy our ponds, rivers and lakes, made lifeless by eutrophication. Implementation of Pho-Bac would directly contribute to meeting several key targets for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in a resolution to drive sustainable development by 2030. At present, we are not on track to meet our goals, demanding evermore attention, effort and action [1] .

Goal 2

As a key component of agricultural fertilizers essential to healthy plant growth and crop yields, the price and price stability of phosphate is a key factor in food security. Both are imperilled by fragile international supply chains and our dwindling reserves that threaten to drive up phosphate extraction costs by a factor of 3 to 5 this century as the most economical mines are depleted [2] . By recycling local phosphate, we aim to provide an additional, stable source of phosphate fertilizer that will not only reduce fertilizer prices, but also reduce price volatility, helping farmers to plan and invest more reliably. We have directly heard from farmers who feel the financial burden of spiking phosphate prices and are reducing their use or looking for an affordable, sustainable, local alternative. Recycling phosphate from even only human sewage could sustainably supply 22% of global phosphorus demand [3], greatly reducing prices. Affordable and reliably priced fertilizer keeps food affordable and reliably priced, helping us to meet Target 2.1: ending hunger and ensuring year round access to sufficient food for all, and Target 2.2: ending all forms of malnutrition. Input costs are a major burden and financial risk on farmers, particularly smallholders who can be bankrupted and indebted by failed harvests that look to grow more likely with climate change [4, 5]. In 2008, owing to international market turbulence, phosphate prices spiked, triggering farmer protests at unaffordable fertilizer prices. One-sixth of farmers globally, likely smallholders, cannot afford access to market fertilizers, thereby capping their productivity, incomes and crop yields. By offering a locally-sourced alternative to market fertilizers, Pho-Bac has the potential to unleash this productivity, break yield ceilings and increase the economic independence of farmers across the developed world. This would contribute to Target 2.3: doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers. Fundamentally, the issue of phosphate supply is a question of sustainability. No sustainable alternatives exist at scale to replace the inorganic phosphate mines set to run out this and next century [6]. Pho-Bac can be this sustainable alternative, helping us to feed the future and meet Target 2.4: ensuring sustainable food production systems and implementing resilient agricultural practices.

Goal 6

The detrimental effects of nutrient excess, particularly phosphate, in aquatic ecosystems are well established. Alongside nitrogen, it is one of the main nutrients causing eutrophication of water bodies by promoting the growth of potentially toxic algal blooms that block light and are decomposed by respiring, oxygen-depleting bacteria [7], reducing fish and invertebrate diversity [8]. In England, phosphorus pollution is the primary cause of failure to achieve good ecological status for rivers and lakes, of those assessed 55% and 73% fail, respectively. The oxygen depletion caused by eutrophication is one of the biggest cause of fish kills in the country [9]. Pho-Bac, by assimilating excess phosphate from wastewater systems, has the potential to reduce aquatic phosphate concentrations, contributing to Target 6.6: protect and restore water-related ecosystems. By incorporating Pho-Bac into wastewater treatment plants or as an independent treatment module at sources of municipal, industrial and agricultural phosphate effluxes, Pho-Bac can help us to meet Target 6.3: to halve the proportion of untreated wastewater and increase recycling and safe reuse globally, as well as Target 6.a: to expand support for wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies. Eutrophication poses an acute health risk to humans also. The cyanobacteria that bloom in response to elevated phosphate can produce harmful cyanotoxins, which can cause symptoms from dermal irritation to liver injury, haemorrhage and cardiac failure in cases of acute exposure. Some cyanotoxins are also persistent and can take weeks or months to degrade [10]. By reducing phosphate, and thereby cyanobacteria levels, Pho-Bac will protect human health and improve water safety, reducing the cost of treating water by stopping eutrophication in the first place. This will work towards meeting Target 6.1: achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.

Goal 12

Several assessments have identified phosphorous as a critical raw material as it plays a vital role in the global supply chain, and since its main source is finite and rapidly depleting [11, 12]. This has highlighted the need to obtain phosphorous and meet its global demands by implementing a circular economy. Multiple processes have been designed for phosphorous recycling[16] and improvement of recovery technologies [13, 14]. El Wali et al have analyzed these options and demonstrated, through advanced dynamic modelling, that implementing a successful phosphorous circular economy would provide up to 22 million tons of phosphorous by 2050 [15]. Similar to the strategies taken into consideration by El Wali et al., Pho-Bac avoids the consummation of finite phosphorous rock, and instead allows the recapture of phosphorous from wastewater, thus reducing our reliance on non-renewable resources. This helps to achieve Target 12.5: by 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. One way in which our team contributes to Target 12.5 is by putting effort into making our laboratory practices more sustainable. We became aware that, in the course of scientific research, 5.5 million tonnes of plastics are consumed globally [16]. This significant amount of material is not recycled, instead it gets disposed in landfills or by incineration, worsening our critical environmental condition [17]. We became concerned with the amount of plastic waste we were generating during our experiments. We were not satisfied with this as it did not reflect our project’s sustainability-driven efforts. Therefore, we sought to act in making our day-to-day activities more environmentally friendly. We decided to use the services of LabCycle, a company that creates a circular economy for single use plastic waste from safety level 1 and 2 labs. We separated our used pipette tips and tubes and delivered it to them to separate, decontaminate and recycle them for later use. We also spread the word on our sustainability practices, advising our partners at BioBrussels to carry out similar activities in their future practice.

Labcycle in the iGEM Bath Lab.

A metadata analysis from the United Nations reports 13.3% of the world’s food is lost, and each step within the supply chain contributes to this. Farming stands at the very basis of the entire food production pipeline, and thus can have large repercussions. As phosphorous is an essential requirement for crops, a reliable source is required to ensure successful farming [6]. Currently available commercial fertilizers are commonly thought to be hugely inefficient as phosphorous recovery by crops in the year of application is often only 10-15% [18]. The rest is not accessible to plants as it erodes through the soil, overall largely contributing to food losses [19]. Pho-Bac targets this issue, providing a way to sustainable farming in order to achieve Target 12.3: reduce food losses along production and supply chain. Principal phosphorous sources are not only finite, but also unequally distributed across the globe, with main phosphate rock deposits in Northern Africa, China, the Middle East, and the United States [20]. As a result of this, phosphorous must be exported to meet its demand in the rest of the world. Contrarily, phosphorous security would be improved in all regions if it was obtained via circular economy [15]. As our technology is based on retrieving phosphorous from wastewater, which is present worldwide, Pho-Bac is a viable option for any region of the world, including developing countries. The large potential of Pho-Bac contributes to Target 12.a: support developing countries to strengthen their scientific and technological capacity to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption and production.

Goal 4

Sustainable development is crucial for the future of the world, and thus must be universally taught. Most aspects of human life and activity can be made more sustainable, including farming [21]. Although researchers have identified the need to switch to a more sustainable phosphorous source [14], the general public is not aware that we will run out of phosphorous in 50 to 100 years [6, 10]. More generally, education on circular economy and synthetic biology is not as widespread and is not sufficiently inclusive [22]. We aimed to target this lack of awareness by organising multiple educational sessions, for either students or adults, focused on demonstrating synthetic biology as a potential solution to several global issues. We also summarised the workings of synthetic biology in leaflets and, importantly, produced it in basic and advanced forms to make it accessible to both people of different backgrounds public. Additionally, we identified the need to put effort into making our research accessible to people from underprivileged backgrounds [23]. To achieve this, and simultaneously ensuring international propagation, we provided multiple language options and closely worked with educational programs in both developed and developing countries. Although this could have only had a small-scale effect for the time being, synthetic has the potential to propagate knowledge on sustainability worldwide. By increasing the success of our project, and in turn its user base, we aim to increase the number of people who are aware of the potential that synthetic biology has in providing sustainable development. This would concurrently improve inclusivity in education and contribute to Target 4.7: ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development.

References

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