International approaches to contamination management: Introduction to the RemTech Europe 2021 Special Series.

Soil is a non-renewable resource, and groundwater is a critical source of drinking water. Effective soil and water protection, assessment, and, if impacted, recovery from contamination are priorities around the world; eco-friendly interventions in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are favored objectives. These issues were discussed during the 6th RemTech Europe conference (https://www.remtechexpo.com/it/remtech-europe/remtech-europe), which focused on sustainable technologies for land and water remediation, environmental protection and the rehabilitation, regeneration, and sustainable development of contaminated sites, encouraging diverse stakeholders to share cutting-edge technologies, case studies, and innovation. Effective, practical, and sustainable management of remediation is only possible if the projects are completed, which is supported when the participants start the remediation planning with this end goal in mind (USEPA, 2003). Several strategies to support and achieve the finalization of sustainable remediation processes were discussed at the conference. Addressing these gaps were among the goals of the papers included in this Special Series, which were selected from the RemTech EU conference presentations. The papers comprise risk management plan case studies, bioremediation tools, and preventive measures for minimizing disaster impacts. Moreover, the use of common and shared international best practices for effective and sustainable contaminated site management, with policy alignment among the remediation stakeholders in different countries, were also reported. Finally, many regulatory gaps, for example, the lack of practical End-of-Waste criteria for contaminated soils, were also discussed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:0-0. © 2023 SETAC.