Abstract
The revitalisation of the global economy after the Covid-19 era presents environmental geotechnics with the opportunity to reinforce the need for a change in paradigm towards a green, circular economy and to promote aggressively the use and development of sustainable technologies and management practices. This paper aims to assist in this effort by concentrating on several thematic areas where sustainability solutions and future improvements are sought. These include the re-entry of construction and demolition of wastes, excavated materials, industrial wastes and marine sediments into the production cycle and the reuse of existing foundations. Despite the recent trend in advanced countries towards recycling and waste-to-energy thermal treatment, landfills still constitute the most common municipal solid waste management practice, especially in low-and-middle-income countries, and technological solutions to improve their environmental footprint are hereby presented. At the same time, remediation solutions are required to address the multitude of contaminated sites worldwide. Advanced developments that incorporate environmental, economic and social dimensions are expounded by the authors, together with sustainable ground improvement solutions for infrastructure projects conducted in soft and weak soils. The topic of thermo-active geostructures concludes this paper, where, apart from their infrastructure utility, these structures have the potential to contribute to the renewable energy source.
Highlights
Since the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 health crisis has been added to existing global challenges that threaten the well-being of humankind
A reduction in atmospheric pollution over many cities has been observed during the lockdown; environmental noise has subsided and cleaner beaches and coastal waters have resulted from the much-reduced tourism
This paper aims to present an overview of and some recommendations regarding the reuse of several types of waste in geoenvironmental projects
Summary
Since the beginning of 2020, the Covid-19 health crisis has been added to existing global challenges that threaten the well-being of humankind. The pandemic has accentuated some environmental problems through the increase of waste production, significant reduction in waste recycling and entry of disinfectants into soils and waters (Paleologos et al, 2020; Tang et al, 2020; Vaverková et al, 2020). The environmental performance of the construction industry remains sub-standard, despite the fact that the principles of sustainability and circular economy can find application in this industry. This has become even more critical since the rate of extraction of natural resources has become 1.6 times higher than their capacity to regenerate
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