Excavated Materials Management and Use Strategy

This report sets out the management and recovery strategy for the excavated materials (6.3 million m3 in place and approximately 8.2 million m3 expanded materials) that will be generated during the excavation of the underground structures of the Future Circular Collider (FCC). It recommends integrating the materials management at regional level, based on the principle of efficiency in resource and cost management. Particular importance is attached to the potential for innovation and to solutions presenting economic advantages and opportunities for environmental optimisation for the local authorities, contractors and regions directly concerned by the infrastructure and for the European Union as a whole. This document forms the basis of the excavated materials management plan. It will not be possible to draw up this plan until the project is approved and the excavation procedures have been decided. Steps will have to be taken to guarantee the economic viability of the streams in which the extracted materials are intended to be used. These different aspects are heavily dependent on the results of the geological, hydrogeological and geotechnical investigations of the subsurface, changes to the legal frameworks in the European Union, France and Switzerland, and decisions taken by the two Host States. The detailed strategy presented in this document has been developed in collaboration with the Centre for Tunnel Studies (CETU), the Centre for Studies and Expertise on Risks, the Environment, Mobility and Urban Planning (Cerema), Montanuniversität Leoben (MUL) and CERN in Work Package 3 (WP3) of the FCCIS (FCC Innovation Study) funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 951754. For some topics, the authors have also consulted GESDEC (the Canton of Geneva’s department of geology, soil and waste). The CETU (Tunnel Study Centre), Cerema (Centre for studies and expertise on risks, environment, mobility and planning), CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) and The University of Leoben (MUL) are beneficiaries of the FCCIS project, co-financed by the European Community. This document constitutes a deliverable produced by these entities as part of this project. The studies and technical considerations presented here do not constitute an agreement or commitment by a CERN Member State, nor by the European Union, for the construction and operation of an extension of existing CERN research infrastructures.