Sustainability assessment of contaminated site remediation with emphasis on valuation.

Although the integration of the principles of sustainability in the selection of site remediation alternatives has become an important issue, most attention is still paid to the direct costs of the soil remediation and the environmental and health impacts of the soil contamination. Less tangible social and economic aspects, such as non-monetary costs and benefits, are only marginally addressed, although they are essential to make a more balanced decision. The present study will first focus on a critical analysis of existing methods (decision support tools) that can be used to include the costs and benefits of soil remediation projects in the decision process. In a second part, the possibilities to express the secondary effects (environmental and health impacts) of site remediation in monetary terms will be assessed, assuming a life-cycle perspective. Potential overall assessment indicators, relevant to the context of site remediation, will then be evaluated with the input of the stakeholders within the sector and a set of basic indicators will be commended. Finally, the last section of the study will be dedicated to the definition and calculation of economic efficiency of soil remediation projects. The methodologies described above (monetization methods, economic indicators, etc.) will be applied and validated throughout the study on a number of well-established and well documented case studies. Experts from the soil remediation industry and policy makers will be involved during the project, in order to take into account their experiences and concerns.status: publishe