Preliminary results of the life+ project: CO-ordinated approach for sediment treatment and beneficial reuse in small harbours networks

Dredging operations in harbour and marine coastal areas, usually performed to maintain operational water-depth, might represent a viable option to mitigate environmental pollution if applied to remove contaminated sediments from the water body. Sediment landfilling could generate relevant environmental burdens due to the amounts of materials to be disposed of; however, the implementation of alternative management options aimed at re-use is hindered by the high cost of technology and the absence of a market for the recovered materials. The present project, named COAST BEST "CO-ordinated Approach for Sediment Treatment and BEneficial reuse in Small harbours networks" and funded in the framework of the LIFE08+ ENV European call, is aimed to find out a method to integrate all the phases of sediments management, through the creation of a networkbased system including different small harbours, i.e., harbours of regional/interregional relevance, which can be geographically interconnected.