Under-utilisation of organic wastes during brownfield regeneration to community woodland: Tackling the barriers

Abstract

The regeneration of brownfield land to greenspace is a governmental policy objective of many European countries. Healthy vegetation establishment and growth is an essential component of successful greenspace establishment, and research has shown that a planting medium of an appropriate standard for supporting vegetation can be created through amendment of soil-forming materials with organic wastes. However, failed regeneration projects suggest that barriers may exist that prevent the use of suitable quality soil materials. The aim of this research was to identify barriers to the use of organic wastes for improving soil materials for brownfield regeneration to community woodland. We conducted interviews with a range of professionals experienced in regeneration to greenspace, and used content analysis on interview transcripts. A diverse set of barriers was revealed, including a low technical awareness among some professional groups of how to improve soil quality, coupled with a low awareness of the published technical guidance. Other barriers include regulatory and project management issues, which influence the timings and economics of raising brownfield soil quality. We highlight areas in which future efforts may be focused to improve the quality of planting media used in land regeneration. Such effort will improve the sustainability of greenspaces created and complement effective management of organic waste streams.

Exploring and Illustrating the (Inter-)Disciplinarity of Waste and Zero Waste Management

“…The disciplines/subject areas highlighted in yellow in Figure 1, provides an initial indicative overview of commonly recognisable connections/contributions to waste management and recycling. These indicative highlights are based on observations emerging from the literature review combined with applying the precedent of interpretation based on background industry knowledge and professional educational and research related experience [119,120].…”

Effects of composted green waste on soil quality and tree growth on a reclaimed landfill site

“…Benefits of CGW in soil improvement include a source of plant nutrients such as slow-releasing nitrogen and high OM material input improving soil physical structure and water retention [3]. Despite availability of guidance regarding the amendment of soilforming materials with organic wastes [2,[4][5][6], these materials are not typically used during the creation of community woodland [7]. Little research currently exists which has specifically investigated CGW interactions with trees on reclaimed land.…”

Interactive effects of composted green waste and earthworm activity on tree growth and reclaimed soil quality: A mesocosm experiment

“…There is increasing industrial and scientific interest in improving the soil materials used in reclamation projects, particularly through the addition of organic matter from waste streams, such as Composted Green Waste (CGW) (Foot et al, 2003;Moffat, 2006;Nason et al, 2007;Forest Research, 2015). However, at present there is limited research into the effect of CGW on tree growth and soil quality on reclaimed land (Ashwood et al, 2014). The few available field experiments have demonstrated some benefits of CGW on tree establishment, and this appears to be dependent on the rate and depth of incorporation (Foot et al, 2003;Moffat et al, 2008).…”