A brand new remediation know-how, ReBind, is claimed to supply a cheap, on-site answer for dealing with contaminated soil on brownfield redevelopment websites, based on the group behind it.
Developed by SMR UK, the patented binder is claimed to allow builders to stabilise and reuse as much as 100% of contaminated floor, avoiding escalating landfill prices and lowering environmental affect.
The launch comes as remediation prices proceed to rise. The usual price of landfill tax elevated to £126.15 from April 2025. Mixed with disposal charges, eradicating hazardous soil can attain £160 per tonne, an more and more unviable route for a lot of developments. With shrinking landfill capability and rising prices, councils and builders are underneath stress to search out quicker, extra reasonably priced options.
“Landfill tax was meant to encourage more sustainable alternatives, but it has made remediation financially out of reach for many projects,” mentioned Clare Thomas, Managing Director of SMR UK.
“ReBind offers an immediate, cost-effective option, treating soil on-site, cutting disposal costs, and reducing project timelines by up to 75%. It also reduces the need for importing materials, reducing carbon impact and transport disruption.”
Not like conventional remediation strategies resembling lime, ReBind is a patented, lime-free binder that works in all climate and eliminates delays attributable to lime mellowing. It additionally permits for a change in specification, lowering layer depths in comparison with conventional excavation and removing approaches. The group says this considerably reduces programme time, whereas nonetheless attaining the mandatory load-bearing energy (CBR) for a variety of growth websites.
ReBind is already in use on reside tasks and has delivered confirmed outcomes. On a large-scale infrastructure scheme in Melton Mowbray, SMR UK labored with MWH Therapy Ltd to stabilise contaminated floor situations on-site, avoiding the necessity to take away over 8,300m² of spoil and change it with imported supplies. The answer prevented over 1,300 automobile actions and saved greater than £2 million in prices whereas lowering carbon emissions by 1,272 tonnes of CO₂e.
“These results clearly show how ReBind can overcome complex ground conditions and help meet strict environmental targets,” mentioned Clare Thomas.
“We’re now looking at how the same approach can be applied to residential developments, especially those that have stalled due to the high cost of land remediation.”
SMR UK has additionally labored with main builders, together with Vistry Houses, Redrow, Bellway, and David Wilson Houses, utilizing its soil stabilisation know-how on lively websites.
ReBind is designed to deal with a variety of contaminants discovered on brownfield websites. These embrace heavy metals, hydrocarbons (resembling petroleum residues and BTEX compounds), polycyclic fragrant hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated solvents, industrial chemical substances, pesticides, and herbicides. It is usually efficient on tougher substances, together with fluorinated compounds, chlorobenzenes, phenols, nitrates, phosphates, energetics, and a number of types of asbestos, together with chrysotile, amosite, and crocidolite. This intensive therapy vary makes ReBind well-suited to websites with advanced contamination profiles.
The launch helps the UK authorities’s Brownfield Launch Fund, which offers £180 million to English councils to hurry up the event of disused land. One of many largest obstacles to utilizing this funding is the price of remediation. ReBind provides a strategy to considerably reduce these prices by as much as 50% when time, supplies, and transport are thought-about, making beforehand stalled or unviable websites viable once more.
With over 28 million tonnes of soil despatched to UK landfills yearly, the trade faces rising stress to maneuver away from dig-and-dump options. The federal government has even explored a Landfill Tax Grant Scheme to assist native authorities address the monetary burden. However the actual reply, many argue, is to cut back landfill reliance altogether. On-site options like ReBind permit tasks to go forward whereas complying with environmental rules.
SMR UK is working with housing builders, civil engineering contractors, and native authorities to combine ReBind into new tasks. Early trials are displaying important financial savings, stronger compliance, and smoother supply.
Claire Thomas commented: “As local councils work to accelerate brownfield development under government funding schemes, technologies like ReBind could play a pivotal role in unlocking previously unviable sites and delivering new homes faster and more sustainably.”
For extra info on ReBind or to request a session, go to www.smruk.com.
