The latest Central Dredging Association (CEDA) publications, covering the most recent work from the CEDA Working Group on the Beneficial Use of Sediments (WGBU), are now available.
These include:
Dealing with contamination can be perceived as challenging (both operationally and publicly). These papers have been published to inform sediment stakeholders, and practitioners, about the most recent advances in the beneficial use of sediments.
According to CEDA, the information paper demonstrates that beneficial use applications exist for clean sediments as well as those contaminated with low-level pollutants. The associated position paper aims to address the perceived challenges by focusing on the risk management, and beneficial use opportunities, when dealing with sediments with various degrees of contamination.
Both papers, and accompanying case studies, cover ongoing international initiatives and programs, and best management practices, in the field, and discuss the value of sediments as a natural resource in the context of sustainable development.
These case studies described highlight many effective methods for beneficial use, supported by specific pilot and commercial project applications, assembled by an active community of practitioners with more than two decades of experience in this environmental area.
Based on the case studies collected, beneficial use examples range from dredged materials affected by anthropogenic sources and natural sediments, to be used for construction applications, or to help restore freshwater and marine habitats, with nature-based solutions becoming a prominent driver for sustainable sediment use in the last decade.
In this paper, CEDA defines beneficial use as: “the use of dredged or natural sediment in applications that are beneficial and in harmony to human and natural development”.