The ISLANDR project is running an online consultation on the management of excavated soil.
The EU Soil Strategy for 2030 and its implementation strategy foresee the use of soil health certification and soil passporting to facilitate the reuse of excavated soils by providing confidence in soil quality and traceability of supply and use. It states that “clean” excavated soils should be reused in the same or another appropriate location and if that is not possible, e.g. because the soil is contaminated, it should be prioritised for recycling or some other form of recovery rather than landfilling.
The aim of the consultation is to test a template or model procedure for excavated soil management in European countries that would be compatible with soil passporting as a contribution to this developing policy debate. This is based on the lessons learned by the leading European innovations in schemes for facilitating soil reuse in Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. This consultation is paired with an online survey which provides an opportunity for contributors to add to the available information about state of practice in their own country or region.
The consultation comprises a draft model excavated soil management procedure and preliminary and qualitative sustainability assessment of potential gains and losses. It asks questions about the draft model procedure and preliminary sustainability assessment as well as a series of more open questions about the scale of the opportunity, any barriers and what recommendations should be made.
The online forms are open until 7 February 2025.
The information and opinions collected will be used to deliver two outputs:
- A cross-cutting analysis of approaches to excavated soil management across Europe to be submitted to an open access journal paper;
- A template for countries or regions to establish excavated soil management administrative systems to maximise the circular economy opportunity for soil and other excavated materials in line with the Waste Framework Directive and Soil Strategy. This will be made available through the ISLANDR website platform.
Full credits will be given to all contributors who desire it. The consultation is available here.
For more information about the ISLANDR project visit the project website at https://islandr.eu/.