Driven by environmental, economic and ecological benefits, resource recovery from water draws worldwide attention. Increasingly, resources from waste streams are being recovered. Novel forms of existing resources are now abstracted from water and wastewater based on waste streams, while more conventional forms, such as methane production, are gaining momentum. simultaneously, major research efforts are focused on valorisation and recovery of, for instance, cellulose, bioplastics, medium-chain carboxylic acids and metals. A range of new initiatives is underway to promote and accelerate the development of science and techniques related to resource recovery.

This state of the art report aims to give water professionals a general overview on available technologies for resource recovery, as well as outline obstacles and opportunities for recovering resources from water in terms of technical, social, economic and political aspects.