The Beneficial Reuse of Soil 2024

A common misconception of construction projects and landfill capping is that they solely rely on newly generated materials. While this is not only false, often, newly generated material isn’t the most sustainable or efficient option. Rather than repeatedly comprising newly generated materials, beneficially reusing existing soil solves this problem sustainably.

There are two routes in which Clean Earth beneficially reuses soil: at Beneficial Use (BU) sites or through treating and repurposing contaminated soil. The major driver that affects whether soil is sent to a soil treatment facility for recycling versus a BU site, is the chemical and physical properties of the soil. BU soil does not require treatment and is taken directly from the source to the chosen BU site.

Beneficial Use (BU) Sites:

BU sites can range from brownfield sites to landfills undergoing closure and redevelopment. Clean Earth imports soil to these sites for use as fill and grading material, in conjunction with its state agency approved remedial action work plans or landfill closure plans. Each site has unique criteria for imported fill that is overseen by a third-party engineer responsible for review or each potential source of fill.

Contaminated Soil for Beneficial Reuse:

With the right technology, contaminated soil can be treated and beneficially reused as structural fill, daily landfill cover, for brownfield reclamation and as commercial or industrial fill. Clean Earth operates a network of full-service soil treatment, disposal, and recycling facilities and can deploy a multitude of soil treatment solutions, including bioremediation, chemical fixation, thermal desorption, physical treatment, and screening and crushing.

Much of the soil that Clean Earth processes is derived from the construction industry; oftentimes, a company digs a hole for a foundation and finds contaminated material or needs clean fill to finish a site or cover a landfill. Beneficial reuse can be implemented in these types of situations, where Clean Earth can take the contaminated soil to a facility, treat it, and then use the treated soil. Whether the soil is contaminated with PCBs, pesticides, or petroleum, Clean Earth acts with diligence to treat and recycle it.

Along with meeting permit acceptance criteria, BU soil must meet geotechnical specification for compaction, which looks at the space between soil particles when pressed together, or slope stability, which refers to the resistance of movement when taking into account external elements such as earthquakes. Upon review of data and an assessment that soil is suitable for a BU site, Clean Earth will match the export material with appropriate BU sites.

Since BU solutions allow for material to be directly placed into the site without additional treatment, they serve as a low-cost disposal option while complying with state permits.

Clean Earth’s extensive knowledge of beneficial reuse lends itself to PFAS-contaminated soil. The Company is poised to provide treatment options using our portfolio of technologies and services.

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