Long-term coastal dynamics: The evolution of a mixed sediment mega-nourishment consisting of colliery spoil.

Mega-nourishments, where large volumes of sediment are deposited on coastlines, are increasingly employed to manage shoreline erosion, yet our understanding of their long-term behaviour is limited by the fact that most current schemes are less than 15 years old. However, on the County Durham coast, 39 million m of coal spoil was tipped onto beaches between the late 1800s and 1993, acting as a de facto mixed sediment mega-nourishment. Our findings reveal key insights into the long-term dynamics of mega-nourishment schemes, including evidence of effective sediment dispersal around headlands into normally disconnected units of coast.

Evolution of Cu and Zn speciation in agricultural soil amended by digested sludge over time and repeated crop growth.

Metals such as Zn and Cu present in sewage sludge applied to agricultural land can accumulate in soils and potentially mobilise into crops. Sequential extractions and X-ray absorption spectroscopy results are presented that show the speciation changes of Cu and Zn sorbed to anaerobic digestion sludge after mixing with soils over three consecutive 6-week cropping cycles, with and without spring barley (Hordeum vulgare). Cu and Zn in digested sewage sludge are primarily in metal sulphide phases formed during anaerobic digestion.

Reuse potential of municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash as secondary aggregate: Material characteristics, persistent organic pollutant content and effects of pH and selected environmental lixiviants on leaching behaviour.

Increasing municipal solid waste (MSW) production poses challenges for sustainable urban development. Modern energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities incinerate MSW, reducing mass and recovering energy. In the UK, MSW incineration bottom ash (MSW IBA) is primarily reused in civil engineering applications.

Environmental behaviour of iron and steel slags in coastal settings.

Iron and steel slags have a long history of both disposal and beneficial use in the coastal zone. Despite the large volumes of slag deposited, comprehensive assessments of potential risks associated with metal(loid) leaching from iron and steel by-products are rare for coastal systems. This study provides a national-scale overview of the 14 known slag deposits in the coastal environment of Great Britain (those within 100 m of the mean high-water mark), comprising geochemical characterisation and leaching test data (using both low and high ionic strength waters) to assess potential leaching risks.