Contaminated soils are a growing concern across Victoria, driven by industrial activity, urban development, agriculture and improper waste disposal.
As pressure on landfill space increases, the ability to treat this material properly has become more critical than ever.
In response to this challenge, Veolia and Ventia joined forces in 2018 to establish EarthSure, a one-stop shop for waste material processing offering thermal treatment and soil washing solutions.
The merger combined the technical expertise of both companies with significant capital investment from each, laying the groundwork for addressing problematic soils across the state.
The story of EarthSure’s current soil washing capability began in 2019, when wet processing specialists CDE designed and engineered an advanced soil washing plant for Ventia in Edinburgh, South Australia.
That same plant now underpins EarthSure’s operations, having been relocated to the company’s Taylors Road Resource Recovery Precinct in Dandenong South.
Relocation and reinstallation took place throughout 2025, with CDE completing the mechanical assembly of the plant.
By early 2026, the facility had received full licensing from the EPA of Victoria to depollute and recycle problematic waste soils.
Running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the plant can process up to 30 tonnes of material per hour.
That translates to more than 160,000 tonnes of contaminated soil diverted from landfill each year, representing roughly 25 to 30 per cent of all contaminated soil generated in Victoria annually.
The project is supported by the Circular Economy Infrastructure Fund for Hazardous Waste, delivered by Sustainability Victoria as part of the state government’s circular economy plan, Recycling Victoria: a new economy.
Through the washing process, Category C material is converted into EPA-approved coarse and fine soil products.
These outputs offer superior engineering qualities, including consistent fraction sizes, making them well suited to beneficial reuse in construction as backfill and other applications.
One of the most pressing challenges facing the soil washing industry is PFAS contamination.
Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often referred to as forever chemicals, are highly persistent in the environment and can leach into soil and waterways without proper treatment.
Around 10,000 synthetic compounds fall under the PFAS umbrella, and they are found in thousands of everyday products as well as in contaminated waste handled by the materials processing sector, posing a significant and growing threat to both the environment and human health.
Research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials indicates that wet processing plays a vital role in removing PFAS from contaminated soils, noting that soil washing removes PFAS mass from the environment in a way that other commercially available technologies, such as stabilisation, capping or encapsulation, and landfill, do not.
Adopting soil washing for PFAS-affected material can reduce contamination levels, support regulatory compliance and enable higher rates of material recovery.
CDE continues to lead in sustainable soil remediation, engineering washing solutions capable of effectively removing PFAS from contaminated soils.
The Dandenong South plant can wash and recover 98 per cent of treated soils for return to market as valuable construction material, forming part of a broader portfolio of high-profile contaminated soil washing facilities CDE has delivered around the world.
Output products, including clean rocks, stones, sand and clay, are now being repurposed across civil and construction projects throughout Victoria.
Adam Fletcher, Ventia General Manager Environmental Services, said demand for quarried virgin material is easing as the availability of clean recycled aggregates grows.
“We’re proud of the role we’re playing in Victoria’s circular economy and look forward to the future of this project,” he said.
Paul Fegan, Head of Operations, Asia Pacific at CDE, welcomed the plant’s new role in supporting the region’s waste recovery goals.
“Now more than ever, it is vital that we are recovering as much waste as possible, and that includes contaminated material,” he said, adding that EarthSure’s work is helping supply large-scale infrastructure projects across the state while protecting natural resources.