Contribution of Site Remediation to Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Sustainability considers society, environment, culture, and economy in practices and projects to avoid hindering future generations’ needs while meeting current needs. In 2015, the United Nations developed a set of 17 goals meant to help achieve sustainable practice worldwide by 2030. These 17 goals are the Sustainable Development Goals to create a more peaceful and prosperous world for the planet and its inhabitants. While site remediation does not intentionally or directly incorporate these 17 Sustainable Development Goals, four case studies of site remediation across North America are evaluated for the applicability of each goal. The four cases explored different sites that each used various remediation technologies, showing how some technologies can be considered more sustainable. By connecting the Sustainable Development Goals to site remediation, it was observed that these practices incorporate a majority of the goals but fail to address issues on poverty, gender equality, and clean energy. Through this classification of applicability for each case study, it can be determined that these goals are dependent on the geographical location, economics, governmental action, and the local communities. This paper will analyze the UN Sustainable Development Goals and highlight the contribution site remediation has toward them by examining four case studies.