Climate Delegated Act Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation

Remediation of contaminated sites and areas

The activity includes:

  1. decontamination or remediation of soils and groundwater in the polluted area, either in situ or ex situ, in particular using physical, chemical or biological methods;
  2. decontamination or remediation of contaminated industrial plants or sites;
  3. decontamination or remediation of surface water and its shores following accidental pollution, such as through collection of pollutants or through physical, chemical or biological methods;
  4. cleaning up oil spills and other types of pollutants on or in:
    1. surface water including rivers, lakes, coastal waters or transitional waters;
    2. groundwater as defined in Directive 2000/60/EC;
    3. marine water as defined in Directive 2008/56/EC;
    4. sediments (for all surface water types);
    5. aquatic ecosystems;
    6. buildings;
    7. soil;
    8. terrestrial ecosystems ;
  5. material abatement of hazardous substances, mixtures or products, such as asbestos or lead-based paint;
  6. other specialised pollution-control activities;
  7. clean-up after disasters from natural hazards, such as flooding, or earthquake;
  8. remediation of disused mining sites or legacies not associated with extraction revenues;
  9. containment operations, hydraulic barriers, active and passive barriers intended to limit or prevent migration of pollutants.

The activity also includes all activities that are required to prepare, plan, monitor and follow-up the decontamination or remediation activity itself, such as:

  1. preparatory investigations, including data collection and surveying activities (in particular geological or hydrological), technical feasibility and environmental impact studies required to define the remediation project;
  2. monitoring and control of the remediation measures, including:
    1. sampling of soil, water, sediment, biota or other materials;
    2. laboratory analysis of samples to identify the nature and concentration of pollutants;
    3. installation, operation and maintenance of monitoring facilities and equipment such as observation wells in and outside the perimeter of the remediation site;
  3. demolition of contaminated buildings or other structures, dismantling large-scale machinery and equipment (i.e., decommissioning) and removal of surface sealing and concreting;
  4. earth moving or dredging, including excavation, landfilling, levelling, construction or reinforcement of perimeter walls or fences, primary access and internal roads and any other activities necessary to operate the decontamination;
  5. implementation of other environmental protection and pollution prevention and control measures to comply with the conditions imposed in the environmental permit for the remediation project, including measures for safeguarding safety of operations on-site and health of workers (such as for fire control, flood protection, hazardous waste management), protection of workers, site access control, management of invasive species before or during decontamination or remediation, reinforcement operations carried out prior to or during decontamination.

This economic activity does not include:

  1. pest control in agriculture;
  2. purification of water for water supply purposes;
  3. decontamination or remediation of nuclear plants and sites;
  4. treatment and disposal of hazardous or non-hazardous waste unrelated to the site contamination problem;
  5. morphological remediation;
  6. remediation of legally non-conforming landfills and abandoned or illegal waste dumps unrelated to the site under remediation (See Section 2.3. of the applicable Delegated Act);
  7. emergency services (see Section 14.1. of Annex II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139);
  8. outdoor sweeping and watering of streets.

The economic activities in this category could be associated with several NACE codes, in particular 39, 33.20, 43.11, 43.12, 71.12, 71.20, 74.90, 81.30 in accordance with the statistical classification of economic activities established by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006.

Substantial contribution

This activity can make a substantial contribution to the following objective(s). The activity must also pass DNSH assessment against the remaining five objectives.

✓ Pollution prevention

1. Remediation activities are not carried out by the operator(68) that caused the pollution or a person acting on behalf of that operator in order to comply with the requirements of Directive 2004/35/CE or, for activities located in third countries, with environmental liability provisions based on the ‘polluter-pays’ principle according to national law.2. The relevant contaminants are removed, controlled, contained or diminished using mechanical, chemical, biological or other methods so that the contaminated area (land, water body or other), taking into account its use at the time of the damage or approved future use of the area, no longer poses any significant risk of adversely affecting human health and the environment(69), as set out in one of the following:national regulatory standards;where these standards are not available, an internal site-specific risk-assessment taking into account the characteristic and the extent of the impacted area (land, water body or other), the type, properties (persistence, mobility and toxicity) and concentration of the substances, preparations, organisms or micro- organisms, possible migration pathways and the probability of dispersion(70).3. The remediation activity is conducted in line with best industry practice and includes all of the following elements:the original operational activity or defective plant and ancillary equipment that led to the contamination has been stopped or addressed so as not to be a potential source of further contamination before any assessment or remediation activity is undertaken (except long-range transboundary air pollution or other unidentifiable diffuse sources);preparatory investigations including site-specific surveys and physical, chemical or microbiological data collection are carried out in line with best industry practice and best available techniques to establish the following elements used to define the environmental targets for the remediation and evaluate the remedial options:the location, characteristics and extent of the contaminated site;the underlying geological and hydrological conditions;the likely quantity, composition and sources of contamination;soil and water pollution originating from it as well as the risks to human health and the environment.the remedial options are analysed in line with Annex II to Directive 2004/35/CE(71) and the most suitable remedial measures are defined in a dedicated remediation plan, including monitoring requirements and plan;any hazardous or non-hazardous waste or contaminated soils extracted or otherwise produced by the remediation activity is subject to appropriate collection, transport, treatment, recovery or disposal by an authorized operator, in accordance with legal requirements and care is taken to prevent any mixing of excavated contaminated soils and non-contaminated soils;remediation methods do not include reducing pollutant concentrations through dilution or watering down, unless a full justification, for reason other than cost considerations, is provided in the remediation plan;control, monitoring or maintenance activities are carried out in the after-care phase of at least 10 years, unless a different duration sufficient to guarantee long-term risk control is defined in the national law or in the remediation and monitoring plan (see point 4).4. The specific remediation and monitoring plan is approved by the competent authority in accordance with national legal requirements, following consultation with local stakeholders.

Do No Significant Harm criteria

To be taxonomy-aligned, this activity must not significantly harm any of the five objectives it does not substantially contribute to.

Climate change mitigation

The activity does not involve the degradation of land with high carbon stock(72).Measures to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions(73) of the full removal or treatment process are included in the remediation plan.

Documentation typically required

  • remediation plan — Must include measures to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions of the full removal or treatment process.

Climate change adaptation

The activity complies with the criteria set out in Appendix A of the applicable Delegated Act.

Water and marine resources

The activity complies with the criteria set out in Appendix B of the applicable Delegated Act.

Circular economy

At least 70% (by weight) of the non-hazardous construction, demolition or other waste materials (excluding naturally occurring material defined in category 17 05 04 in the European List of Waste established by Decision 2000/532/EC) generated on the site under remediation is prepared for reuse, recycling and other material recovery, including backfilling operations using waste to substitute other materials, in accordance with the waste hierarchy and the EU Construction and Demolition Waste Management Protocol(74), unless a clear justification is given in the approved Remediation Plan based on technical or environmental reasons, other than cost considerations.

Key thresholds

MetricThresholdUnit
Percentage of non-hazardous construction, demolition or other waste materials (excluding naturally occurring material defined in category 17 05 04 in the European List of Waste) prepared for reuse, recycling and other material recovery, including backfilling operations70% (by weight)

Documentation typically required

  • Approved Remediation Plan — Must include a clear justification based on technical or environmental reasons, other than cost considerations, if the 70% threshold is not met.

Biodiversity and ecosystems

The activity complies with the criteria set out in Appendix D of the applicable Delegated Act.The following is to be ensured:in the Union, in relation with Natura 2000 sites: the activity does not have significant effects on Natura 2000 sites in view of their conservation objectives on the basis of an appropriate assessment carried out in accordance with Article 6(3) of Directive 92/43/EEC;in the Union, in any area: the activity is not detrimental to the recovery or maintenance of the populations of species protected under Directives 92/43/EEC and 2009/147/EC at a favourable conservation status. The activity is also not detrimental to the recovery or maintenance of the habitat types concerned and protected under Directive 92/43/EEC at a favourable conservation status;the introduction of invasive alien species is prevented, or their spread is managed in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014.

Documentation typically required

  • Appropriate assessment in accordance with Article 6(3) of Directive 92/43/EEC — Demonstrates no significant effects on Natura 2000 sites in view of their conservation objectives.
  • Evidence that the activity is not detrimental to the recovery or maintenance of populations of species protected under Directives 92/43/EEC and 2009/147/EC at favourable conservation status — Also covers habitat types protected under Directive 92/43/EEC.
  • Evidence of prevention of introduction or management of spread of invasive alien species in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 — Required if applicable.

Criteria sourced from the EU Taxonomy Navigator. Applicable act: Climate Delegated Act (OJ L 442, 9.12.2021). Last verified: 19 July 2026.

Related reading: EU Taxonomy explained · Evidence sustainability auditors look for

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