HIDDEN VALUES AND VALORIZATION OPPORTUNITIES OF TECHNOGENIC DEPOSITS FOR CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Technogenic deposits or anthropogenic sediments are recognizable as heterogeneous sedimentary structures, consequencing of human activities, and differing by composition and texture closely related to applied industrial processes such as primary minerals extracting, construction works, dump facilities, excavation works, contaminated soil, ash or slag deposits, or other technological residues (e.g., filled soils, warp or sidoberg, tailings). In most cases, they are associated with waste, pollution and degraded surroundings, affecting landforms’ natural environment and geology. The global resource shortage accelerates the search for alternative material and energy sources; thus, hidden values of technogenic deposits are among the objects of promising valorization opportunities beneficial for circular economy purposes and attainable with proper planning, detailed investigation and technological progress. Such technogenic deposits as historically formed industrial or municipal waste dumps (landfills) may serve as extractable resource cells, also called urban ores, for extracting valuable metals and utilizing inert residual mass simultaneously with implementing environmental remediation and land asset retrieval. The boundaries of the process need a broader approach than emphasizing technical and monetary estimates; therefore, overall sustainability integration in technogenic deposits’ valorization is demanded by including intangible assets such as ecosystem services restoration and future socio-cultural expectations at equal levels with economic benefits. The study gives insight into the technogenic deposits valorization approach based on actual outcomes of implemented landfill revitalization projects providing a know-how strategy. The work is supported by the PASIFIC program “GeoReco” project funding from the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No.847639 and from the Ministry of Education and Science (Poland). Z.Vincevica-Gaile acknowledges BAFF for the research opportunity in the US.