SubsTer®: Transforming quarry tailings into fertile soil
SubsTer® is a geotechnical engineering process that recreates fertile soil from quarry tailings.
This solution produces substitute soil from quarry tailings and unsold related goods, leveraging unique expertise derived from the transfer of technology developed by INRA, CNRS and the University of Lorraine's Soil and Environment laboratory.
SubsTer® uses transmission electron microscopy to characterise soils in order to recreate living earth. This process regenerates soil by focusing on the micro-aggregation of mineral tailings with organic matter that has microbial potential suited to the needs of each deposit. This process yields healthy living soil that has not been obtained by depleting farmland and is not of variable quality - often the case with brownfield soil. SubsTer® soil has an agronomic certificate attesting to its quality.
This process reclaims inert material which would otherwise end up in landfills. SubsTer® establishes agreements with economic operators enabling them to sell their waste in a nice example of industrial symbiosis.
The technology was demonstrated in 2015 and has since been replicated across France as well as in Belgium and Switzerland.
ECESP first published an article on this business in 2017, and since then SubsTer® has flourished: the SubsTer® network now has several associated networks operated by producer-clients, such as RevTer de Brezillon (Bouygues) and EvoluTer (Serfim-Vicat). It has also established a partnership with Terre Utile which will assume responsibility for running the network.
- SubsTer® was granted the Solar Impulse label in June 2022. This label recognises circular economy solutions that meet high standards of sustainability and profitability.
- In 2023, SubsTer® producers sold over 180 000 tonnes (9000 lorry loads!) of regenerated soil.
- The company delivered a fair amount of the soil used to create green areas for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
- It provides a local solution for companies in need of soil, rather than shipping huge amounts of heavy material across long distances.
- The process enables the redevelopment of quarries and inert waste storage facilities for use as farmland and facilitates the establishment of green areas in urban spaces.