The nutrient and carbon rich nature of biosolids makes it a great candidate for reclamation of soils damaged through mining, industrial uses, fire, overgrazing, and coastal dredging and infill.
- Superfund mines — Opencast mining has severely impacted natural environments, and resulted in permanent damage to soils and vegetation across the United States. Biosolids have proven effective in the reclamation and revegetation of former mining sites, through the application of biosolids to mine tailings and destabilized slopes. Biosolids provide a stable organic base from which to grow vegetation, limit the movement of metals, and reduce erosion from leaching and wind.
- Brownfields — Brownfields are sites that formerly housed industrial uses, but are no longer in use due to disturbed or contaminated soils. Biosolids and sediment blends can provide ideal growing conditions in which to revegetate these disturbed sites, while providing no impact to the surface water and groundwater quality.
- Fire ravaged land — With recent increases in wildfires, particularly in California and the western states, vast parcels of land are now facing extensive impairment. Biosolids, which contain significant amounts of vital plant nutrients and organic matter, have the potential to revegetate fire ravaged landscapes, improving plant growth, improving water holding capacity, and reducing the risk of flooding and landslides.
- Overgrazed rangeland — Many rangelands in the western United States have been overgrazed, resulting in reduced water infiltration, decreases in vegetative diversity and forage yield, and loss of topsoil. Biosolids, which contain significant amounts of plant nutrients and organic matter, can be used to restore the vegetative cover of over grazed rangelands. In addition, land application of biosolids can be a significant source of revenue for ranchers who agree to use biosolids from municipalities through the collection of tipping fees.
- Wetlands — Wetland restoration efforts commonly fail due to hydraulic miscalculations, death of target wetland plant species, and propagation of invasive species. Biosolids, when applied properly, can improve the likelihood of target plant species surviving due to the additional availability of nutrient-rich organic material, which provides a growth medium for native wetland plant species and stabilizes slopes.