According to Lux Research, utilities and water treatment facilities have begun to explore technologies designed to help extract the value from wastewater sludge. As these technologies mature, the market opportunity for resource recovery will grow.

Technologies focused on recovering energy from sludge show the most promising value proposition, according to the report, and are expected to capture 64% of the overall market in 2020.

Heather Landis, an analyst for Lux Research and the report’s lead author, said: “Processing and disposal of wastewater sludge is something every utility has to deal with, and the costs associated with the task are rising due to more stringent regulations. We expect more utilities to search for and adopt technologies that can help offset these costs and extract the value hidden in wastewater sludge.”