This book provides a comprehensive overview of innovative remediation techniques and strategies for soils contaminated by heavy metals or organic compounds (e.g. petroleum hydrocarbons, NAPLs and chlorinated organic compounds). It discusses various novel chemical remediation approaches (in-situ and ex-situ) used alone and in combination with physical and/or thermal treatment. Further, it addresses the recovery of NAPLs, reuse of leaching solutions, and in-situ chemical reduction and oxidation, and explores the chemical enhancement of physical NAPLs recovery from both practical and theoretical perspectives. Also presenting the state-of-the-art in waste-assisted bioremediation to improve soil quality and the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbons, the book is a valuable resource for students, researchers and R&D professionals in industry engaged in the treatment of contaminated soils.

Discusses the latest information regarding the processes and mechanisms responsible for runoff and erosion by water in arable lands--detailing state-of-the-art water and soil conservation methods. Elucidates the rehabilitation of agricultural lands depleted by human activity.

Bio-Geotechnologies for Mine Site Rehabilitation deals with the biological, physical, chemical, and engineering approaches necessary for the reclamation of mine waste. As mining has negative effects on natural resources and deteriorates the quality of the surrounding environment, this book provides coverage across different types of mining industries, which are currently creating industrial deserts overloaded with technogenic waste. The book offers cost-effective strategies and approaches for contaminated sites, along with remediation and rehabilitation methods for contaminated soils and waste dumps. It is an essential resource for students and academics, but is also ideal for applied professionals in environmental geology, mineral geologists, biotechnologists and policymakers. Deals with global and holistic approaches of abandoned mine land rehabilitation Includes mine waste rehabilitation case studies from around the world Covers integrated technologies, such as bioremediation of metalliferous soil Provide strategies for sustainable ecosystems on mine spoil dumps Offers novel methods for the remediation of acid mine drainage

This book provides a comprehensive overview of remediation and rehabilitation techniques and strategies for contaminated and anthropogenically disturbed land. Rehabilitation approaches in the urban environment, such as brownfield redevelopment and urban mining, are discussed. In relation to contaminated land, techniques for soil containment and decontamination of soil, soil vapour and groundwater are comprehensively and systematically presented. Complicated treatment techniques are schematically depicted and can be readily understood. Agricultural, silvicultural and environmentally sustainable rehabilitation strategies for reclaiming disturbed land/terrain in former mining or natural-resource extraction areas, such as open-cast mines, quarries, harvested peatlands, and subsided mining terrain (sinkholes), are introduced. This book will be a useful tool for students, researchers, private consultants and public authorities engaged in the treatment of contaminated or disturbed land.

Environmental Materials and Waste: Resource Recovery and Pollution Prevention contains the latest information on environmental sustainability as a wide variety of natural resources are increasingly being exploited to meet the demands of a worldwide growing population and economy. These raw materials cannot, or can only partially, be substituted by renewable resources within the next few decades. As such, the efficient recovery and processing of mineral and energy resources, as well as recycling such resources, is now of significant importance. The book takes a multidisciplinary approach to fully realize the number of by-products which can be remanufactured, providing the foundation needed across disciplines to tackle this issue. As awareness and opportunities to recover valuable resources from process and bleed streams is gaining interest, sustainable recovery of environmental materials, including wastewater, offers tremendous opportunity to combine profitable and sustainable production. Presents a state-of-the-art guide to environmental sustainability Provides an overview of the field highlighting recent and emerging issues in environmental resource recovery that cover a wide array of by-products for remanufacture potential Details a multidisciplinary approach to fully realize the number of by-products which can be remanufactured, providing the foundation needed across disciplines to tackle these global issues

"This book is a guide to why environmental rehabilitation is necessary, the standard to which it should be done, and how to do it. Using the South African Constitution as the ultimate frame of reference, the guide explains, for any given case, derivation of a rehabilitation objective, its boundary conditions, the interventions to be applied, and simple powerful metrics that can be used to measure achievement. Focuses on rehabilitation in the humid and semi-arid regions of South Africa."--

Ecological restoration is a rapidly evolving discipline that is engaged with developing both methodologies and strategies for repairing damaged and polluted ecosystems and environments. During the last decade the rapid pace of climate change coupled with continuing habitat destruction and the spread of non-native species to new habitats has forced restoration ecologists to re-evaluate their goals and the methods they use. This comprehensive handbook brings together an internationally respected group of established and rising experts in the field. The book begins with a description of current practices and the state of knowledge in particular areas of restoration, and then identifies new directions that will help the field achieve increasing levels of future success. Part I provides basic background about ecological and environmental restoration. Part II systematically reviews restoration in key ecosystem types located throughout the world. In Part III, management and policy issues are examined in detail, offering the first comprehensive treatment of policy relevance in the field, while Part IV looks to the future. Ultimately, good ecological restoration depends upon a combination of good science, policy, planning and outreach – all issues that are addressed in this unrivalled volume.