Sustainable Remediation: Identification of sustainable management practices (SMPs) for remediation projects at fuel manufacturing sites

This report presents the results of the initial phase of the project and is the culmination of a workshop held by Concawe in April 2024 and subsequent inputs from Concawe members and the CL:AIRE/ERM team. The primary objective of the project was to develop a shortlist of commonly applied and would-like-to apply sustainable management practices (SMPs) applicable for projects at fuel manufacturing sites, which reflect the specific requirements of that sector. Following the Concawe workshop, we have further developed the nature of the hypothetical site to be utilized as a case study for the purpose of the SMP assessment. The hypothetical site was adapted to be relevant to Concawe members and includes the different stages of the site lifecycle (site investigation, monitoring, remediation, etc.) and identifies three remedial technologies that will represent three agreed scenarios where the benefits of various SMPs can be realized. This study demonstrates the benefits of applying SMPs to soil and groundwater remediation projects to contribute to mitigating environmental, social and economic impacts relating to remediation processes. Through application of SMPs at a project-level the study demonstrates the scalable application to real remediation projects from a light-touch to more comprehensive approach to achieve positive ‘sustainability gains’.