RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Assessing carbon and pollutant efficiency in wastewater treatment plants: A data-driven benchmarking framework using latent class stochastic frontier analysis
A1 Sala Garrido, Ramón
A1 Maziotis, Alexandros
A1 Molinos Senante, María
K1 Carbon emissions
K1 Heterogeneity
K1 Latent class analysis
K1 Stochastic frontier analysis
K1 Wastewater treatment
K1 Performance
K1 3308.10 Tecnología de Aguas Residuales
AB Achieving carbon neutrality in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) presents a significant challenge, asreducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must not compromise pollutant removal efficiency. This study in-troduces a novel Carbon and Pollutant Efficiency Index (CPEI) to benchmark the environmental performance ofWWTPs by integrating GHG emissions and pollutant removal efficiency into a single metric. To address limi-tations in previous studies, which primarily relied on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), this research employsLatent Class Stochastic Frontier Analysis within a metafrontier framework to account for unobservable hetero-geneities among WWTPs. A case study of 109 WWTPs in Spain identified three distinct operational classes, withaverage CPEI scores of 0.595, 0.586, and 0.506 for Classes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Results indicate thatchemical oxygen demand (COD) removal is the primary driver of GHG emissions, reflecting the energy-intensivenature of aerobic treatment processes. None of the WWTPs achieved full efficiency (CPEI = 1), suggestingsubstantial room for improvement. Policy implications include the need for tailored regulatory strategies thatbalance carbon reduction with pollutant removal targets. The proposed CPEI provides a robust decision-supporttool for benchmarking WWTPs and guiding policies towards sustainable and decarbonized wastewatermanagement
PB Elsevier
SN 0959-6526
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/78648
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/78648
LA eng
NO Journal of Cleaner Production, 2025, vol. 523, p. 146413
NO Producción Científica
DS UVaDOC
RD 20-oct-2025