Industrial Landfill Remediation in

a Sensitive Residential Setting

Sandford Farm Landfill Case Study

Landfill Mining Workshop

Rawfill – SMARTGROUND Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under Grant
Agreement No 641988

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Sardinia 2019
 Why Landfills?

 We are running out of land and many of the easier sites have been
remediated forcing developers to move further into already established
urban areas...

300,000 homes...equates to roughly 34 houses per hour!

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 Why Landfills?

 We are running out of land and many of the easier sites have
been remediated forcing developers to move further into already
established urban areas...

 Landfills are comparatively cheap to buy:

 Sandford Farm cost £10M less then the Greenfield equivalent.

 This makes some landfills a very attractive prospect for

developers, but they are not without their own challenges.

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 Why Landfills?

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 Sandford Farm

 The locality - mature residential properties on one boundary

 Former sand and gravel quarry in 50s. Operated as a licensed
industrial landfill between 1981 and 1991 (no lining or
environmental controls)
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 Proposed development

 Up to 541 residential properties

 Piled foundations
 NHBC Amber 2 gas protection
measures
 Some with gardens

 Public Open Space (POS) Areas

 SUDs features (ponds & swales)
 Footpaths
 Play areas

 Access roads
 Country park to the east
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 Investigation history

 The site has been under investigation since 1995.

 8 different phases of investigation by 4 different companies.
 8 distinct landfill cells (4 inert and 4 industrial/commercial).
 267 exploratory locations.

 The principal reason that the site was remediated prior to development
was the risk from ground gases - CO2 and CH4 and to a lesser extent:
 H2S
 Geotechnical instability
 Limited pockets of TPH and heavy metals

 RSK and Vertase FLI also completed a very detailed assessment of the
waste volumes which included a significant amount of geophysics
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 Conceptual site model

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 Waste characterisation

Determining extent of waste

 Electromagnetic Ground conductivity
Mapping
 Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

Confirming extent and its properties

 Trial pitting
 Boreholes

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 Waste
Site characterisation
investigation mapping

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 Typical waste encountered

 Soil
 Stone
 Bricks/blocks
 Concrete
 Plastic
 Glass
 Metal
 Paper & cardboard
 Wood
 Textiles
 Rubber
 Asbestos (ACM)

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340,000 m3 of commercial waste 01 October 2019 11
 Remediation objectives

 Land suitable for residential development

 Minimise future ground settlement

 Minimise future ground gas production
 Manage risk to HH of future site users and environment
(i.e. water)

 Maximise re-use of materials

 Minimise off-site disposal

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 Remediation objectives

■ Recover topsoil and subsoil for re-use

■ Recover landfill cap for re-use
■ De-water landfill (into purpose built treatment lagoons)
■ Excavate all landfill waste
■ Separate waste to recover materials suitable for re-use as fill
■ Process separated waste (where necessary)
■ Re-use recovered materials as engineered fill
■ Export materials unsuitable for re-use
■ Manage Regulatory liaison and approval
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Processing the waste: selective excavation

Used asRSKpre-processing technique to separate large materials (e.g. boulders / rolls01 of

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 Processing the waste

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 Processed materials

0 to 40mm 40 to 100/125mm

Oversized Concrete

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 Processed materials

off site).

Textiles Plastics

Scrap Metal Filter Cake

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 Re-use of recovered materials

0 to 40mm 0 to 40mm
40 to
100/125mm
Plastics Plastics
Plastics

Backfilled using material with low gas generation potential

(organic carbon content low %)
Highways Series 600 Specification
95% maximum dry density (ASTM D698) or Modified (ASTM D1557)
<10% air voids
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50 kN/m2 undrained shear strength 01 October 2019 18
 Phased approach

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 Compaction and Restoration

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 Gas management before starting

Virtual Gas curtain

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installation
01 October 2019
 Gas management before starting

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 Surcharging

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 Gas protection installation

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 Re-use of recovered materials

Clay cap 0 to 40mm 40 to 100mm Oversized

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 Validation works
 Primary goal was the complete removal and processing of all waste materials to
remove the degradable fraction.
 Drum tests from processed waste prior to bulk placement
 Forensic assessment of TOC content of material types
 Installation of ground gas monitoring wells for a minimum of 6 months
 FID surface survey
 Flux box tests
 Sub floor monitoring under some unoccupied units

 Placement of processed material to provide a suitable development platform for

a residential development.
 Suite of geotechnical testing in situ as processed materials are placed
 Laboratory data to support on site testing
 Final loading tests at finished levels

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 Validation works

Nuclear density testing In-situ California Bearing Ratio (CBR)

Samples for forensic TOC analysis Drum tests for ground gas
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 Houses built on first phase 2015

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 Houses built to date

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 Perception in the community

Theresa May has welcomed the decision made by

Wokingham Borough Council to turn down plans to build a
combined residential and business complex on the Sandford
Farm landfill site.

Theresa said, “I am pleased that Wokingham Council has

listened to what local people want and has rejected this
latest plan for Sandford Farm. The area is a valuable green
space enjoyed by local residents and wildlife and I will
continue to campaign on their behalf for it to stay that way.”
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 Perception in the community

Page last updated at 08:25 GMT, Thursday, 8 January

2009

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 Stakeholder and residents engagement
 A residents’ monitoring group was formed to take an active part during
the remediation process.
 Regular meetings were held between residents, RSK, the local
authority and the contractor to update the residents on progress and
discuss any issues on-site.
 The environmental protection officer was informed whenever an
elevated level occurred.
 Weekly data was produced in a simple format for the local authority and
residents.
 RSK’s site supervisor and environmental protection officer regularly
visited those residents who were concerned with the remediation.
 An open-door policy meant residents could drop in and be driven
round the site.
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 Stakeholder and residents engagement

BAM - PM10 LVS3 - PM10 Nephelometer - PM10 TENAX - VOCs

GC - VOCs Frisbee - Dust

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 Lessons learnt and key points

 Remediation works took 4 years to complete

 Total cost of physical remediation works = ~£12M for £340,000 m3
waste (£50/m3 ~ £40/tonne)
 Separating landfill waste to generate a re-useable material was greatest
challenge
 Very little saleable materials recovered from landfill waste (e.g. metal) -
BUT RECOVERING SALEABLE MATERIALS FROM LANDFILL WASTE WAS
NOT THE ECONOMIC DRIVER FOR THE PROJECT
 Economic driver is reclaiming the land for development

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 Lessons learnt and key points

 The science of remediation is often not the only aspect that

will need to be considered
 Social effects of remedial works need to be considered
 An openness to demonstrate the working remedial
processes to the stakeholders and residents alike is critical

 Innovation in remediation and monitoring techniques can

be the key to unlocking historical sites.

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 Success story
Best Re-Use of Materials on a Project was presented to RSK’s team based in Hemel
Hempstead, UK, as a joint win with contractor Vertase FLI Ltd and client Taylor Wimpey
for their work on the Sandford Farm landfill remediation project in Reading, UK.

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