Remediation of the Valais landfill site

Ecosens AG accompanied extensive sampling work for the planning of future remediation work at a landfill site in the canton of Valais. Industrial waste as well as demolition and excavation material was deposited at the site between 1938 and 1997. The older deposits in particular are heavily contaminated and lead to impairment of the groundwater and thus to the need for remediation.

Due to the high concentrations of pollutants and the composition of the landfill material, treatment and disposal options in Switzerland and abroad are limited and associated with very high costs. For this reason, further investigations are being carried out with the aim of developing suitable treatment processes so that the heavily contaminated waste from the landfill site can be disposed of in a landfill in Switzerland after treatment.

To this end, various waste disposal companies in Germany and abroad were commissioned to develop new methods for the treatment and disposal of this waste using sample material. Further exploratory drillings and excavator shafts were carried out in winter 2023 so that this sample material could be made available. Due to an existing company building on the most heavily contaminated part of the landfill, carrying out this exploratory work was a challenge.

Thanks to the careful preparation and planning work of our team and the flawless work of the drilling and construction company on site, these samples could be taken without any problems. The results of these investigations are expected at the end of 2023, on the basis of which a remediation project will be drawn up in a second step.  

Contact person
Stefan fox
Managing Partner
Dipl. Erdw. Benefri UniFR Geologist CHGEOL