Resource recovery of high value-added products from wastewater: Current status and prospects

Wastewater resource recovery not only allows the extraction of value-added products and offsets the operational costs of wastewater treatment, but it is also conducive to alleviating adverse environmental issues due to energy and chemical inputs and associated emissions. A number of attractive compounds such as alginate-like polymers, struvite, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and sulfated polysaccharides, were found and successfully obtained from wastewater and have a wide range of application prospects. The aim of this work is to provide a comprehensive review of recent advances in recovery of these popular products from wastewater, and their physicochemical properties, main sources, and current recovery status are summarized. Various factors influencing the recovery performance of these materials are thoroughly discussed. Moreover, the research needs and future directions towards wastewater resource recovery are highlighted. This study can provide valuable insights for future research endeavors aiming to improve wastewater resource recovery through the retrieval of high value-added products.