Evaluation of the environmental impact of Brownfield remediation options: comparison of two life cycle assessment-based evaluation tools

Growing food in polluted soils: A review of risks and opportunities associated with combined phytoremediation and food production (CPFP)

Innumerable private households and small-scale producers currently operate on polluted soils. Phytoremediation is one of the most cost-effective remediation options but as a stand-alone technology, it is often not lucrative enough to make it appealing for farmers, especially in economically vulnerable regions. Economic incentives are crucial for remediation projects to materialise and synergies can be obtained by integrating phytoremediation with other profitable activities including food production. This review aims to synthesise state-of-the-art scientific data to provide a general understanding of opportunities and risks for sustainable remediation of agricultural soil by the use of combined phytoremediation and food production (CPFP). The results show that strategies based on CPFP may be appropriate options for most pollutants in virtually all climatic or socioeconomic contexts but a number of challenges need to be surpassed. The challenges include remediation-technological issues such as undeveloped post-harvest technology and inadequate soil governance. The need for remediation solutions for polluted fields is increasingly urgent since many farmers currently operate on polluted land and the scarcity of soil resources as the human population continuously increases will inevitably force more farmers to cultivate in contaminated areas. We conclude that, although large scale CPFP has not yet reached technological maturity, appropriate combinations of soil types, plant species/cultivars, and agronomic practices together with thorough monitoring of the pollutants' pathways can potentially allow for safe food production on polluted soil that restricts the transfer of a number of pollutants to the food chain while the soil pool of pollutants is gradually reduced.

Stakeholders' perspective on strategies to promote contaminated site remediation and brownfield redevelopment in developing countries: empirical evidence from Pakistan

Due to the potential of reducing negative outcomes of brownfields on environment and contribution to urban sustainability, brownfield redevelopment (BR) gained considerable recognition in the more recent era. Comprehensive literature shows that many studies proposed strategies to promote BR in developed nations; however, studies focusing on developing economies are scarce. Therefore, this study intends to identify significant strategies to promote BR in developing countries by taking the case of Pakistan. A comprehensive literature review and expert opinion were commenced to identify potential strategies. Data were collected from the main stakeholders involved in BR process through an empirical questionnaire. The findings revealed that "Low-interest loans and subsidies with the collaboration of government and financial institutions," "Standardized definition, guidelines, and simplified brownfield process," "Development of technical and infrastructure support," "Create investors interest," "Strengthening remediation technologies R&D" were the five most important strategies to promote BR in Pakistan. Theoretically, the novelty of the current study is to highlight the key strategies to promote BR in developing countries. Practically, the study facilitates governments, urban policymakers, environmentalists, and stakeholders to propose and implement appropriate strategies for promoting BR. Future studies can consider modeling the interactions between strategies and their impact on BR adoption.

A Methodological Approach for Evaluating Brownfield Redevelopment Projects

In recent decades, municipalities around the world have been developing community policies and seeking to apply them in their cities. They use methods for exchanging information and opinions on decisions, policies, plans and strategies and involve and consult with the community and stakeholders in all aspects of the decision-making process. The application of methods for thoughtful planning has become the goal of policy makers to improve the lives of citizens and stop the expansion of the city into the countryside. The aim of this article is to integrate the notion of sustainability into a methodological approach, taking into account the actors involved in the decision-making phases, the objectives, and the local indicators in an urban redevelopment project (brownfield). Our approach is based on an analysis of 21 articles and on a transversal and cross-cutting view of the interdisciplinary themes of sustainable development by inserting the main actors into decision-making in urban projects and by selecting local indicators. We put in place a methodological approach for the evaluation of urban projects that takes into account local expectations. The goal is to identify and classify the elements that are needed for decision making, including the indicators related to environmental and socio-economic components, in order to develop an effective evaluation tool. This research contributes to the knowledge of project evaluation tools in the specific context of a city.

Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of possible methods for the treatment of contaminated soil at an environmentally degraded site

This study reports on the assessment of the environmental sustainability of different management practices for an environmentally degraded site in Slovenia: the Old Zinc-Works in the town of Celje. Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) were applied in order to evaluate possible trade-offs by comparing a proposed in situ remediation scenario with two other reclamation scenarios (scenario 2: incineration, metal extraction, underground disposal and reclamation of the site by refilling it with replacement material, and scenario 3: underground disposal and reclamation of the site by refilling it with replacement material) and with a no-action scenario. The results of the comparisons performed show that in the case of the in situ remediation scenario, the consumption of resources is smaller by a factor of 51 compared to that in the second scenario and by a factor of 7 compared to that in the third scenario. The impacts on human health and ecosystem quality are approximately 30 and 3.5 times less in the first scenario than in the second and third scenarios, respectively. Compared to the impact of the no-action scenario, the impact on human health of the in situ soil remediation scenario is approximately 6 times less, whereas its impact on the ecosystem is approximately 4 times less. The results confirmed that the in situ soil remediation scenario is the most sustainable practice from an environmental point of view. Its main advantage lies in the achieved conservation of natural resources. Despite the recovery of valuable metals (Zn, Pb, Cu, and Ni) from the bottom ash, the second scenario is significantly more environmentally burdensome compared to both the first and third scenarios. This outcome is due to the significantly high impacts related to the consumption of fuels needed to support the incineration of low-calorific contaminated soil and to electricity consumption. The present study demonstrates that the results of LCA studies, in addition to technological, economic and social indicators, yield important information about the sustainability of different management practices and therefore should be an important part of decision-making when approaching the reclamation of environmentally degraded sites.

Optimising value from the soft re-use of brownfield sites

Soft re-use of brownfields describes intended temporary or final re-uses of brownfield sites which are not based on built constructions or infrastructure ('hard' re-use). Examples of soft re-uses include the creation of public green space. These are essentially uses where the soil is not sealed. Often the case for soft re-use of brownfields has not been easy to demonstrate in strictly financial terms. The purpose of this paper is to describe a value based approach to identify and optimise services provided by the restoration of brownfields to soft re-uses, on a permanent or interim basis. A 'Brownfield Opportunity Matrix' is suggested as means of identifying and discussing soft restoration opportunities. The use of 'sustainability linkages' is suggested as a means of understanding the sustainability of the services under consideration and providing a structure for the overall valuation of restoration work, for example as part of design or option appraisal processes, or to support the solicitation of interest in a project.