Exchange of knowledge and the consolidation of culture for contamination management: Introduction to the RemTech Europe 2022 Special Series
Authors: Falconi Marco , Grenni Paola 
Published: August 2024

The urgency of protecting ecosystems and their recovery from contamination has been highlighted in several recent European strategies because Europe's biodiversity and landscapes are declining rapidly due to different human pressures. Despite the existence of EU and national laws addressing environmental contamination, practical procedures are often missing. For example, competent authorities must deal promptly and effectively with environmental accidents, noncompliance, and criminal offenses but relevant tools that facilitate these processes are often lacking. For example, thorough planning is crucial for effective investigation and assessment to improve environmental damage assessments in line with the European Environmental Liability Directive (ELD, 2004/35/EC). With regard to soils, a specific European legislation for their protection, the European Soil Monitoring Law, is currently being developed. However, it is crucial that this law bridges the gaps between existing chemical regulations and that it aligns with current European strategies for environmental protection and sustainability. Continuous feedback of soil monitoring results to regulatory frameworks will be essential. This feedback loop ensures that chemical regulations are relevant and effective in protecting soil health. In this context, development and sharing of effective and practical procedures for recovering ecosystems from contamination are crucial. This was the case at the RemTech Europe meeting, which was held online and onsite in Ferrara, Italy, in September 2022. The discussion covered all aspects of environmental contaminants. It ranged from the basic understanding of these contaminants to the various types that pose a threat to organisms, studies of their environmental fate, detection methods, and sustainable practices for contaminant management. The special series dedicated to RemTech Europe 2022 is particularly relevant to these purposes and resulted in six articles that were selected from oral presentations. The articles emphasize the need for integrated approaches to risk management and remediation to address the problems of soil, sediment, and groundwater contamination. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1982–1986. © 2024 The Author(s). Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Key Points

The RemTech Europe community is an important forum for discussing best practices, experiences, scientific and technological research results, and methodological approaches. A special emphasis is placed on phytoremediation as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly tool for recovering contaminated soils, as applied using conceptual models. Practical guidelines and operating procedures to monitor the environmental impact of human activities are reported here to guide the recovery of polluted sites. The European experience in recovering from contamination can help other countries, in addition to learning from past mistakes.