Green and Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Change-Resilient Waste Infrastructure (LIFE GREEN ADAPT)

Description:

LIFE GREEN ADAPT aims to increase the resilience of EU waste infrastructures against climate change. The project focuses on developing nature based solutions (NbS) for landfills and reducing the pollution that they produce when affected by extreme weather such as fires and floods. This will be achieved by demonstrating the potential of blue-green infrastructures and ecosystem-based approaches to manage flash flooding and run-off caused by heavy rainfall and prevent fires and explosions caused by droughts and unusual heatwaves.

For this purpose, the project proposes the enhanced wider use of the following blue-green infrastructures as climate adaptation solutions:

1. The use of bio-technosoil (formulated with landfill waste) for soil stabilization, preventing from landslides caused by extreme rain and floods,
2. The combination of innovative treatment wetlands for the storage and treatment of leachates and of temporarily high contaminated run-off water,
3. The reuse of treated wastewater to mitigate and cope with the effects of high temperatures preventing fires or explosions and contributing to guarantee water availability.

All the solutions developed in the project have been selected to demonstrate the potential of NbS and verify their performance under a real-scale landfill scenario. LIFE GREEN ADAPT is supporting the transition to a resource-efficient and low-carbon economy by reducing water consumption and green-house gas emissions in the waste sector. Replicability and transferability will be key aspects of the LIFE GREEN ADAPT project. The project will engage key stakeholders, including potential end-users, policy makers and investors, and will address the co-creation of the solutions developed during the project so they are fit for purpose. 

The project aims to: 

• Avoid 1,065m3 in polluted water spillovers/year
• Make 21,300 m3 of water available for natural water courses to increase resilience to flooding, decreasing landfill temperature. By using this treated water, freshwater consumption will also be reduced by 21,300 m3
• Save 116,702 tCO2 eq per year
• Save €200-500k in leachate treatments
• Recover 27,507 t of waste each year

The project contributes to a climate-resilient, resource efficient and low-carbon economy, aligned to the European Circular Economy Action Plan, Green Deal Communication, EU strategy on adaptation to climate change and Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, among others.

Project information

Lead

AIMEN (Asociación De Investigación Metalúrgica Del Noroeste), Spain

Partners

AIMEN (Asociación De Investigación Metalúrgica Del Noroeste), Spain

AU (Aarhus Universitet), Denmark

Factor (Factor Ideas Integral Services) S.L., Spain

Isle Utilities BV, Netherlands

LIMNOS Ltd, Slovenia

UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Caralunya), Spain

XILOGA S.L, Spain