Biological nutrient removal (BNR) processes in wastewater treatment require readily biodegradable chemical oxygen demand (rbCOD), which is often in the form of carbon for denitrification and biological phosphorus removal (bioP), where bioP specifically prefers soluble carbon in the form of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Primary sludge fermentation has been practiced to provide additional rbCOD for wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) that have unfavorable influent carbon characteristics, however additional supplementation of rbCOD using an external carbon source is often needed, increasing chemical costs and the carbon footprint of the WWTP. This study reports the first pilot-scale implementation of a high-rate aerobic adsorption process (A-Stage) for capturing influent carbon as A-Stage WAS (waste activated sludge), which was then fermented to generate VFAs, enabling downstream side-stream enhanced biological phosphorus removal (S2EBPR) coupled with bio-oxidation (B-Stage) shortcut nitrogen removal.