The 12th Landfill Workshop took place November 3–4 and was jointly organized by the Institute of Mechatronics and Technical Informatics (MTI) at the Technical University of Liberec (TUL) and the Institute for Process Development, Peat and Natural Materials Research (iTN) at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz (HSZG) as part of the project TESEUS . Speakers from the industry, government agencies, and research institutions contributed to the joint dialogue and interesting discussions with their presentations. The approximately 100 participants demonstrated cross-border interest in the topic “Landfill as a Last Resort” and in current issues arising from the waste management hierarchy.

As part of the landfill workshop, the early-career researchers from iTN—who have been working since July 2016—presented their approaches to date on the project topic “Sustainable Use of Soil Resources” for discussion by experts in the field. The inter-university group of early-career researchers consists of four graduates from various engineering and environmental disciplines. The objective of this interdisciplinary collaboration is to develop engineering methods for the use of technogenic soils in earthworks. The following subgoals are being addressed:

• Extending the service life of existing structures by developing realistic forecasting tools

• Optimizing material usage for new construction, renovation, and retrofitting by optimizing material parameters

• Process-based treatment and ecologically sound use of problematic materials for the retrofitting or new construction of environmental infrastructure structures

• Incorporation of climate and weather forecasts for the assessment of the water balance

Project partners:

Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences – iTN (Process Engineering) – Prof. Dr.-Ing. Schoenherr (Project Leader)

Dresden University of Applied Sciences (Civil Engineering) – Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Engel

Freiberg University of Mining and Technology (Hydrogeology) – PD Dr. habil. Dunger

Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences – F-N (soil science) – Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Schulz

The 13th Landfill Workshop will take place in November 2017 in Zittau.

Anyone interested is cordially invited to mark their calendars for this event!