News and events

Green shoots of recovery

Published 13 December 2010

Staff from the Faculty of Science and Engineering have been awarded funding from the European Union Framework 7 programme to work with an international network of researchers examining less aggressive, more sustainable methods of cleaning up contaminated land.

The GREENLAND project (Gentle Remediation of Trace Element Contaminated Land) involves 18 European research teams and examines the practical application of 'greener' land clean-up technologies which use the action of plants and benign soil additives to remove or stabilise heavy metals in soils present at former industrial sites.

These techniques, known as gentle remediation options or GRO, potentially offer a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly way to treat contaminated land. Their current application across Europe, however, is very variable, and despite a number of highly successful trials wider industrial take-up and on-site use has been relatively limited.

Gentle remediation in Saxony, Germany: large scale trials involve poplar and willow growth and coppicing in land contaminated by former mining activity.

The GREENLAND project seeks to address this, and will examine ways in which these methods can be optimised at a large scale at different sites across Europe in ways that involve key local stakeholders.

The University of Brighton team, comprising Professors Andy Cundy, Andrew Church and Sergey Mikhalovsky, are leading work on appraising current GRO practice and developing implementation guidelines and decision support for the large-scale practical application of these techniques.

Professor Cundy said: "Gentle remediation options have great potential in helping us to develop more sustainable management strategies for large former industrial sites, and we look forward to working with academic and industry partners in the GREENLAND project to develop and assess these technologies as practical on-site method."