Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are two nutrients contributing toseveral environmental problems, particularly eutrophication of surface waters.Leakages of these nutrients occur through human activity. In this study, theflows of N and P in the Finnish municipal waste system in 1952–1999 weredetermined and analysed using substance flow analysis (SFA). Nutrient flowsin both wastewaters and solid waste peaked in 1990, after which they declineduntil 1994 but thereafter increased again although remaining lower than in1990. At the end of the 1990s the wastewater and solid waste frommunicipalities and rural households contained ca. 7.0 kg N person–1 a–1 and1.1 kg P person–1 a–1. Untreated wastewater contained three times more N andfour times more P than solid waste. The amounts of N and P involved inrecycling increased over the study period being 10% for N and 50% for P at theend of the 1990s.
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