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Recycling and Reuse of Sediments in Agriculture: Where Is the Problem?

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  • Giancarlo Renella

    (Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), University of Padua, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy)

Abstract

Though suggested by international conventions for a long time, there are still several technical and legislative limitations to a complete reuse and recycling of dredged sediments. In particular, reuse of unpolluted sediments can be practiced, whereas sediment recycling is still affected by several downsides, and a significant proportion of the recycled fine sediments has no practical use and must be landfilled. However, the silty clayey fraction of the recycled sediments is rich in organic matter and macro- and micronutrients useful for plant growth. Nevertheless, sediment recycling in agriculture is not possible, even in non-food agricultural sectors, due to the lack of a permissive legislation and of consolidated supply chains. In addition to plant nutrients, the silty-clay sediment fraction may also accumulate organic and inorganic pollutants, and while the organic pollutants can be effectively biodegraded, metals and metalloids may concentrate at concentrations higher than the limits set by the environmental and agricultural legislations. In this paper, I briefly summarize the scientific evidence on the potential reuse and recycling of sediments in agriculture, and I discuss the main reasons for hindrance of sediment recycling in agriculture. I also present evidence from a real industrial biodegradation process that produces bioremediated fine sediment fractions with suitable properties as a mineral ingredient for plant-growing media. I propose that nutrient-rich recycled sediments could be reconsidered as a component material category in the new EU regulation on fertilizers.

Suggested Citation

  • Giancarlo Renella, 2021. "Recycling and Reuse of Sediments in Agriculture: Where Is the Problem?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:1648-:d:492818
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Davide Tonini & Hans G. M. Saveyn & Dries Huygens, 2019. "Environmental and health co-benefits for advanced phosphorus recovery," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 2(11), pages 1051-1061, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Keith Torrance & Richard Alastair Lord & Alasdair Hamilton & Paul Berry, 2023. "Repurposing Dredged Canal Sediment for Topsoil at Bowling, Scotland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-12, June.
    2. Nikafkar, Nasrin & Alroaia, Younos Vakil & Heydariyeh, Seyyed Abdollah & Schleiss, Anton J., 2023. "Economic and commercial analysis of reusing dam reservoir sediments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PB).
    3. Laura Ferrans & Alexander Nilsson & Frank Schmieder & Divya Pal & Mahboubeh Rahmati-Abkenar & Marcia Marques & William Hogland, 2022. "Life Cycle Assessment of Management Scenarios for Dredged Sediments: Environmental Impacts Caused during Landfilling and Soil Conditioning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-17, October.
    4. Francesca Vannucchi & Cristina Macci & Serena Doni & Vincenzo Longo & Francesca Ugolini & Grazia Masciandaro & Eleonora Peruzzi, 2022. "Posidonia -Based Compost and Dredged Sediment in Growing Media Improve Tolerance and Nutrient Uptake in Ornamental Plants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-14, November.

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