Worldwide, landfilling remains an important aspect of solid waste management. Long-term emissions of landfill gas to the atmosphere and dissolved contaminants to groundwater are the result of biogeochemical reactions acting on the landfilled wastes. Since 2020 this project conducts fundamental research regarding the relationship between the conversion of waste organic matter and the emissions of pollutants in the context of a full-scale field trial into the sustainable aftercare of three Dutch landfills. The research will lead to methods that enable sustainable management of contaminated sites, thereby minimising emissions of contaminants to the environment and reducing the time over which society has to actively manage the pollution arising from these sites.

Researching universities
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)
Wageningen University & Research (WUR)
University of Southampton (U Southampton)
University of Delaware (U Delaware)

Principal investigators
TU Delft: Julia Gebert, Timo Heimovaara, Anne-Catherine Dieudonné
WUR: Rob Comans

Co-investigators
U Southampton: Richard Beaven, Tristan Rees-White, Anne Stringfellow
U Delaware: Paul Imhoff

Postdocs
TU Delft: Susan Yi, Leonardo Duarte Campos, Nasime Janatian

PhDs
TU Delft: Nathali Meza Ramos, Cristhian Andrade Corona, Liang Wang
WUR: Frank van Raffe, Nick Quist

Partners
Afvalzorg Holding
Attero B.V.
Hans Oonk, OonKAY! Innovations in Environmental Technology
Stichting Duurzaam Storten (SDS) with project iDS (https://duurzaamstortbeheer.nl/english-page/)

Funding
CURE is financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO),
grant # OCENW.GROOT.2019.092