Project description
The contaminated sites management is a process that has different speeds in Member States. This is due partly to differences in legislation that would mean different definitions as for making some examples “potentially contaminated sites”, “contaminated sites”, “remediated sites”. For this reason, the European Commission-JRC launched an initiative with EEA-EIONET network to find common definitions and a survey in MS in 2018 that resulted in defining 6 site statuses.
This project aims to support and exchange the technical experience necessary to advance the remediation phase in Europe, providing a reference for Member States where such procedures are not yet established. The project specifically focuses on developing criteria for evaluating the applicability of various remediation technologies, understanding their applicability, field testing requirements, and full-scale implementation.
Current Activities
Case Study Collection on Permeable Reactive Barriers and Solidification/Stabilisation (May-September 2025)
We are currently collecting case studies on the use of Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB) and Solidification/Stabilisation (S/S) techniques at contaminated sites.
Permeable Reactive Barriers questionnaire
Solidification/Stabilization questionnaire
You are invited to contribute by completing the questionnaire between 1 May and 30 September 2025. Providing detailed site information, affiliations, and involved parties is encouraged to help contextualize the case. The aim is to gather practical insights and technical details from real-world applications to support knowledge exchange and improve future implementation of these remediation strategies across Europe.
Your contribution will help build a valuable resource for regulators, practitioners, and policymakers across the IMPEL network.
Translation and dissemination
Moving forward, the project will focus on making these technologies easier to use and more widely adopted across Europe. Our next steps include:
- Sharing technical know-how on monitoring in situ and on-site remediation, especially with countries that don’t yet have procedures in place.
- Publishing two new remediation technology guides each year.
- Translating the documents into multiple languages to reach more users.
- Promoting the reports at conferences and by working directly with national and local authorities
Previous Cycle
The project team has developed a series of comprehensive technical reports aimed at advancing sustainable, in situ, and on-site remediation technologies across Europe. These reports evaluate the applicability, performance, and practical implementation of various soil and groundwater remediation methods. The full reports are available under the Project Outputs menu on the right hand side.
- In Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD) Report/2024
- Phytoremediation Report/ 2024
- Soil Washing (SW) report/ 2023
- Multi Phase Extraction (MPE) report/ 2022
- Soil Vapour Extraction (SVE) report/ 2021 (Available in: en es fr el it nl pl pt ro sl sk tr)
- In Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO) report/ 2021 (Available in: en es fr el it nl pl pt ro sl sk)