In 2019, a first conference was held about upcycling soil, seen through the lens of urban engineering
The EIVP (City of Paris School of Engineering), a leading university for urban engineering, and ECT, the French leader in the upcycling of excavated soil, organised the first conference in April 2019, “La Terre dans tous ses États” or “Earth in all its States.”
This conference gave rise to the idea of a collective publication to be published by Presses des Ponts. This work was put together under the direction of Bernard Landau, president of EIVP’s department for teaching and research into public space, planning and mobility, and Youssef Diab, EIVP’s director of science. It has a preface by Antoine Grumbach, winner of the Grand Prix de l’Urbanisme town planning award, and president of the scientific committee of the ECT/EIVP academic chair.
1001 ways to upcycle soil
Every year in the Paris region, nearly 10 million m3 of inert soil, the equivalent of four Great Pyramids of Giza, are produced by public and private works – a quantity that is an indicator of the sheer volume of public works currently happening in the Paris metropolitan area.
This work, arising from the conference “Earth in all its States”, reveals the thousand and one ways in which inert soil can be upcycled. It’s a golden opportunity to shine a light on the principles of ‘circular economy’ and ecological mitigation that are at the heart of these often unsung activities.
Soil is a very valuable resource
This publication explores a wide variety of solutions, ranging from remediation of polluted zones and backfilling of mines and quarries to the creation of planted parkland, the restoration of farmland, the transformation of soil into a construction material or topsoil, and the creation of works of art or works of urban engineering.
