Ex-situ treatment of contaminated soil
This paper reviews the development of ex-situ soil treatment technologies over the last 20 years, against the background of developing legislation and market forces.
Legislation along the lines of site remediation, soil treatment, landfilling and reuse was developed and improved in the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, substantial budgets were made available by the national government to tackle the remediation of contaminated sites. This prompted the development of soil treatment technologies. As a result of an intensive learning process, the market is now considered to be mature. The more relevant aspects of the soil market (in 2001) are collated in the table below.
| TECHNOLOGY | THROUGHPUT [kton/year] |
COSTS [Euro/ton] |
FACILITIES [number] |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Thermal treatment |
725 |
35-60 |
3 |
|
Biological treatment |
265 |
20-40 |
24 |
|
Soil washing |
855 |
20-45 |
25 |
|
Immobilisation |
150-250 |
40-45 |
12 |
|
Landfilling |
550 |
40-70 |
40 |
|
Reuse untreated soil |
9000 |
2-7 |
20 |
|
Reuse treated soil |
1500 |
0-3 |
- |
Presently, both public and private players focus heavily on quality control and assurance. In partnership, certification schemes for processes (e.g. treatment, remediation) and products (e.g. reusable soil) are being developed and implemented. Regular, independent auditing of these certification schemes yields enhanced customer confidence and improved compliance with legislation.