ASSESSING SUSTAINABLE REMEDIATION FRAMEWORKS USING SUSTAINABILITY DISCOURSE

Abstract

The remediation industry has grown exponentially in recent decades. International organizations of practitioners and remediation experts have developed several frameworks for integrating sustainability into remediation projects; however, there is no accepted definition or universal framework for sustainable remediation. Literature on sustainable remediation is only recently beginning to emerge, and there has been limited attention to how sustainability is best-integrated and operationalized in sustainable remediation frameworks and practices – or whether sustainability plays any meaningful role at all in sustainable remediation. This thesis examines the role of ‘sustainability’ in recently emerging sustainable remediation frameworks. More specifically, it presents the results of an analysis of how sustainability is defined, integrated and operationalized in sustainable remediation frameworks. Methods are based on a review of a sample of six leading remediation frameworks against a set of normative principles and criteria for sustainability integration adapted from sustainability assessments. Recommendations are made for improving the integration of sustainability in sustainable remediation frameworks, and how to better operationalize sustainability practices.