Determination of the environmental effects of Turkey's marine dredged materials prior to beneficial use: Commercial ports & fishery harbours

In this study, the investigation of the environmental effetcs of the marine dredged materials (DMs) collected from three commercial ports and four fishery harbours of Turkey prior to beneficial use was undertaken. Firstly, physico-chemical, toxicological, leaching and mineralogical properties were determined for the qualification of DMs and grain size distributions were identified. Then, environmental analysis results were compared with the limit values stated in "The Waste Management Regulation-Appendix 3B" and "The Regulation on the Landfilling of Waste-Appendix 2". Besides, pre-evaluation of DTMs for several beneficial use alternatives was performed. Characterization results showed that DMs can be defined as "nonhazardous waste" (waste code 17 05 06) and can be disposed at Class II landfills. The findings of this study suggest that DMs can be beneficially used in agricultural/product applications (i.e. manufactured topsoil, concrete, road fill) with no adverse environmental effects in case of some improvements on its physico-chemical properties. However, technical, environmental, legal and economic evalution is required for products to be manufactured at each benefical use application.