# Microalgae Cultivated in Industrial Wastewater as Agricultural Bioinputs: Technical and Life Cycle Assessment to Support Sustainable Production

## TL;DR

This study shows that using microalgae grown in wastewater as a nutrient source for tomatoes is technically and environmentally feasible.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in demonstrating environmental benefits of using microalgae biomass over mineral fertilizers through a life cycle assessment.

## Key findings

- No significant differences in plant and fruit parameters with microalgae doses.
- Alternative scenario reduced water consumption by 107.43% and ionizing radiation by 53.54%.
- Baseline scenario had 23.05% higher human health impact compared to the alternative.

## Abstract

This study evaluated the technical and environmental
feasibility
of using wastewater-cultivated microalgae biomass as a nutrient source
for tomato plants. A field experiment tested different foliar application
doses of microalgae biomass (control, 0.5%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10%) on
tomato plants. Postharvest analysis of eight plant and fruit parameters
showed no significant differences among treatments. Environmental
feasibility was assessed through life cycle assessment, comparing
a baseline scenario (mineral fertilizer) with an alternative scenario
in which microalgae biomass was used as both a nutrient and water
source. The Ecoinvent database and ReCiPe 2016 methodology were applied
at both midpoint and end point levels. The alternative scenario demonstrated
reduced environmental impacts across all 18 midpoint categories, including
substantial reductions in water consumption (107.43%) and ionizing
radiation (53.54%). At the end point level, the baseline scenario
had 23.05% higher impact in the human health category than the alternative.