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ELFM IV Symposium testimonial video now available

The ELFM IV organising committee is happy to share the 5-minute video of the 4th Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM IV) Symposium (February 5-6, 2018). The video integrates a large number of testimonials and diverse perspectives from the European Commission, academia, industry and civil society. ELFM IV offered multiple lectures on topics varying from (1) Geophysics, remediation, pre-processing and metal extraction technologies for Enhanced Landfill Mining; to (2) Thermal valorisation technologies for Enhanced Landfill Mining; (3) Upcycling technologies for Enhanced Landfill Mining; and (4) Multi-criteria assessment for Enhanced Landfill Mining. The Symposium was closed with a stimulating, lively debate about the future of ELFM in Europe and the world. The panel debate was filmed (view video here) and is really worth watching. (ptj/14-2-2018)

ELFM IV rationale

Over the past few years Enhanced Landfill Mining (ELFM) has gained considerable momentum, as corroborated by the initiation of three EU-funded ELFM-related projects (ETN NEW-MINE, Interreg RAWFILL and COCOON), the rise of EURELCO, widespread press attention and the recent endorsement of the ELFM concept in the “waste package”, which was formally approved by the European Parliament on March 14, 2017.  The justification for this paradigm change is that ELFM does not only enable the recovery of valuable materials which can be brought back into the cycle, but also allows for recovering land area, taking into account that a large part of the EU’s 500,000 historic landfills are situated in a (semi-) urban environment. Nevertheless, the first, full-scale industrial, resource-recovery driven ELFM project still hasn’t occurred yet in Europe. Multiple barriers seem to persist, varying from social acceptance issues to delays in permits. In this closing ELFM IV debate the challenges and opportunities for the industrialisation of ELFM will be discussed by an expert panel of industrial players, research experts and EC affiliates.

Key videos & documents

  • ELFM IV testimonial video: view here
  • ELFM IV closing debate video (with Derek Greedy (ISWA National Members Representative, ISWA Board), Claudia Neculau (SpaQue, coordinator Interreg NWE RAWFILL), Yves Tielemans (Group Machiels), Mieke Quaghebeur (VITO), Jan Frank Mars (Rijkswaterstaat, Interreg Europe COCOON), Magnus Gislev (European Commission, DG GROW), Moderator: Victor Dries (Policy Advisor for Flemish Government, Cabinet Liesbeth Homans): view here
  • ELFM IV Symposium Book (eds. Jones & Machiels): download here
  • All ELFM IV Presentations and > 100 truly excellent photographs (credits: Nicolas Herbots) can be downloaded through the ELFM IV event page.
ELFM IV Closing debate (credits image: Nicolas Herbots)

ELFM IV Closing debate (credits image: Nicolas Herbots)

ELFM IV (credits image: Nicolas Herbots)

ELFM IV (credits image: Nicolas Herbots)

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