University Bid to Tackle Contaminated Land
More than 60 landowners, developers and waste experts attended a workshop at the University of Greenwich at Medway yesterday (Thursday, February 8) to discuss the need to develop new solutions for cleaning up contaminated land.
The workshop, Soil Treatment in the South East, was organised by the Kent and Medway Contaminated Land Forum in partnership with Kent Environment Agency and the University of Greenwich School of Science.
Dr Paula Carey, of the university’s School of Science and a founding member of the award-winning university spin out company Carbon8 Systems, said: “There are important discussions to be had right across the board.
“With the government’s policy to build 60 per cent of all new housing on brownfield sites and the development of the Thames Gateway, not to mention preparations for the Olympic Games, the need to come up with new solutions for the remediation of contaminated soils in high on the local agenda.
“The implementation of the EU Landfill Directive, and the classification of many contaminated soils as hazardous waste means that a dig and dump solution has become both economically and environmentally expensive. For example, hazardous waste now has to travel to Peterborough or Swindon in order find suitable landfill space.
“One solution we are discussing is the setting up of a regional soil treatment centre in Kent which could offer a variety of techniques including soil washing, bioremediation, stabilisation or solidification with cements or accelerated carbonation.”
ENDS
For further media information, broadcast, photographic and interview opportunities, please contact:
University of Greenwich at Medway Public Relations, tel: 020 8331 9420
Delphine Houlton, Andrew Metcalf or Jez Durrant, at Maxim, tel: 01892 513033