Implementation of CE principles in the remediation of a former paper mill site Liz Gray, Director, Ramboll

1. Ramboll
Ramboll
Circular Economy and
remediation
Liz Gray, Director
Circular Economy and Resource Management
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2. Ramboll
Ramboll in brief
• Independent architecture, engineering and consultancy
company
• Founded 1945 in Denmark
• More than 18,000 experts
• Present in 35 countries
• Particularly strong presence in the Nordics, the UK,
North America, Continental Europe, and Asia Pacific
• Creating sustainable solutions across Buildings, Transport,
Energy, Environment & Health, Water, Management
Consulting and Architecture & Landscape.
• EUR 2.2 billion revenue
• Owned by Rambøll Fonden – The Ramboll Foundation
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3. Ramboll 3
s

4. Ramboll
• Soil is a finite resource that takes thousands of
years to form.
• Soil degradation is a growing global issue –
environmental, economic and social impacts.
• UK construction disposes of ~ £3 billion pa of soil
• 2018: 51million tonnes soil excavated, half sent to
landfill.
• Globally, construction accounts for:
• 37% of the world’s total resource consumption,
• approximately 30% of total global greenhouse
gases, and
• 39% of total energy-related CO2e emissions
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Why is the Circular Economy important?
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5. Ramboll
• Government Policy:
• Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste: policy
summary table, Updated 10 August 2023
• Routemap to Zero Avoidable Waste in
Construction:
• eliminate all but hazardous C&D waste to landfill
and reduce soil to landfill by 75% by 2040,
• zero avoidable C&D waste by 2050.
• Revised Code of Practice for the Sustainable Use of
Soil on Construction Sites - soil reuse and storage
depot scheme
• Landfill tax acceleration >£100/t
• Raw material costs
• ESG and corporate reporting requirements
• E.g. Zero waste to landfill
• Desire to change!
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Drivers for the Circular Economy

6. Ramboll
• Policy implementation – certainty and timescales?
• Regulation – e.g. application of end of waste criteria
• Definition of waste?
• Lack of investment
• waste management infrastructure
• novel technologies
• Lack of standards and accepted ways of working
• Updates to quality protocols?
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Challenges to the Circular Economy in construction

7. Ramboll
Silverton Mill
One of the UK’s oldest paper mills.
Located on the Killerton Estate near Exeter in Devon – land
owned by the National Trust.
Silverton Mill was operational from the 1800s until 1999.
Former mill buildings and river culvert south of the site
were demolished and the River Culm reinstated between
2014 and 2017. Included a programme of remediation.
Former recycling yard remained operational under lease.

8. Ramboll
Ramboll
Silverton Mill Sustainable Remediation
Relevant clauses in the lease
agreement:
• Ensure that the land will not
be designated as
‘contaminated land’ as
defined in Part 2A of the
Environmental Protection Act
1990;
• Remove the floor slab to one
metre below ground level and
reinstate ‘to bare earth’ and
reseed with an appropriate
grass mixture; and
• Not to discharge pollutants
into the surrounding
watercourses.
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The lease expired in February
2022. Remediation of the site
(i.e. the former recycling yard
area) was needed to restore
it to flood plain.
The ground had been
substantially infilled over the
years including mainly ash
from old boilers and paper
pulp wastes.
Buried structures including
old sumps, waste ink tank
and drainage chambers.
Main pollutants - heavy
metals, hydrocarbons and
areas of buried asbestos.

9. Ramboll
• Client’s sustainability commitments.
• NT’s green recovery programme at Killerton includes restoration of the
floodplain and creation of wetland habitats.
• Performed environmental surveys.
• Designed a sustainable remediation strategy.
• Removal of all hardstanding, underground structures and
contamination hotspots.
• Reinstatement including import of a growing medium, design and
planting scheme.
• Planting scheme including both the design and type of native planting
appropriate for this site.
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Silverton Mill Sustainable Remediation

10. Ramboll
What was achieved?
Waste minimisation- risk based approach,
DoWCoP, verification of soils, groundwater and
surface water
Reduced carbon footprint – crushed concrete re-
used locally; growing medium sourced locally
Increased biodiversity – planting scheme of native
trees and shrubs; creation of wetland habitat
Floodplain capacity increased – site level
lowered; hardstanding removed
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11. Ramboll