Stimulation of Treatment of Contaminated Sediments in the Netherlands

Large volumes of dredged materials have to be removed each year from the waterways in the Netherlands, mainly for reasons of shipping and water discharge. Most of these dredged materials can be relocated in the sea or on land, but the more contaminated dredged materials (CDM) need to be disposed or treated. Until now treatment of CDM has only been done on a small scale, mainly because of the higher costs of treatment compared to disposal. The Dutch policy is aiming at enlarging the share of treatment of CDM into building materials in order to decrease the amount of waste that has to be disposed. The growing public resistance against new disposal sites has urged the Dutch government to take several initiatives. Firstly, a national inventory and assessment of the possibilities of large-scale treatment has been set up. Secondly several measures have been taken to stimulate the treatment of CDM.