Researchers at Nagaland University have developed a nature-inspired technology to recover valuable resources — such as nutrients, biofuel, biogas and clean water — from wastewater, offering a potential solution to environmental pollution and water scarcity.

Led by Prof Prabhakar Sharma, head of the department of agricultural engineering and technology, the research advances bio-based soft technologies — energy-efficient systems that harness plants, algae, microbes and ecological interactions to treat wastewater while recovering resources.

“This represents a transformative shift, viewing wastewater not as a liability but a resource hub,” Sharma said. Adoption of such systems, he added, could enable sustainable agriculture via nutrient recovery, support decentralised and low-cost treatment in rural areas, and contribute to India’s circular economy and climate goals.

The findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health.

The team has created a roadmap for pilot implementation and integration with national sanitation and water reuse programmes. However, Sharma noted that the technology has so far been tested only in controlled lab environments. “Pilot-scale implementation, community-industry collaboration, and long-term research on system stability are essential next steps,” he said.

Vice chancellor Prof Jagadish K. Patnaik said global wastewater from domestic, agricultural, and industrial sources is an urgent environmental challenge. “Conventional methods focus only on pollutant removal, missing the opportunity to extract high-value compounds like nutrients and biofuels,” he said.

He added that resource recovery through bio-based processes offers both ecological and economic benefits and should be prioritised.