The Contaminated Land Assessment & Remediation Research Centre (CLARRC) is a centre of excellence for multi-disciplinary research. It develops technology for sustainable, cost-effective assessment and remediation of contaminated environments and promotes its transfer to industry.

CLARRC draws on the resources of groups from the College of Science and Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, the Schools of Life Sciences and Built Environment at Napier University and from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC). CLARRC offices and core laboratories are based in the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, School of Engineering and Electronics, University of Edinburgh.

We address a broad spectrum of environmental issues including point source and diffuse environmental pollution, effluent treatment and waste management. Our expertise and activities extend across the spectrum of the sustainable development agenda including for example Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).

Working in partnership with industry, stakeholders and regulators we are active in:

1. Academic research (e.g. subsurface modelling, biosensors, bioremediation, water pollution, composting)
2. Contract research (e.g. treatability studies, remediation trials, product development & testing)
3. Laboratory analysis (e.g. environmental, microbiological, ecotoxicological, Waste Acceptance Criteria)
4. Consulting & contracting services (e.g. waste management options, geophysical investigations, remediation of soil and water)

CLARRC actively engages with industry, exploring and developing ideas with a view to eventual commercialisation e.g. via the Edinburgh Pre-Incubator Scheme (EPIS). Knowledge and technology transfer underpin all our activities operating through such schemes as Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP).

Projects include laboratory studies e.g. a strategy for monitoring natural attenuation using chemical fingerprinting & molecular analysis and a chemical test to predict soil-associated pollutant bioavailability. Other projects are developing phytoremediation techniques, sequential reactive barriers, in-situ source zone bioremediation of DNAPLs and optimising biopile processes for weathered hydrocarbons and approaches for predicting fate and transport of dissolved phase hydrocarbons in chalk aquifers. For a full list of projects, visit the bioremediation programme website.

CLARRC was founded in June 1998 with funding from the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) under the Research Development Grant (RDG) Scheme and has been self funding through our activities since 2002.