The reuse of mining and construction waste for backfill as one of the sustainable activities

Abstract

Human civilization brings the need for energy sources and construction materials. A large amount of materials are extracted from deep and open pit mines. Mining activities are inevitably related to the large direct impact on the local environment (dewatering, landscape). A lot of spoil material is produced in the course of mining production and further processing of extracted products. Various issues of the use of waste material from empty rocks, enrichment tailings and demolition works in civil engineering as a backfilling material should be analyzed. All factors must be considered depending on the amount of the material to be used for the construction of embankments or fillings, the cost of its processing before reuse and environmental cost of the transport. The implementation of sustainable technologies may reduce the costs for the mining waste disposal in dumps, as well as minimize the negative impact of mining enterprises on the region ecology and comfort of inhabitants. The same benefits can be observed on a smaller scale when construction waste material (debris) is considered. The work presents overall conditions for abandoned working in the deposits underground development in selected regions of Russia and some experiences gathered at numerous construction sites in Poland where the working of machines (rollers, impulse compactors) imposed vibrations on neighboring areas. In order to take into account the totality of all forms of the impact of geotechnology on the natural environment and neighboring human activities in the course of extraction of the minerals and to improve measures for the rational use of natural resources, a complete change in the concept of environmental protection is necessary. It is necessary to move from purely protective measures to the planned management of natural resources and to develop a mathematical model of the impact of geotechnology on the environment. It is also crucial to increase the role of environmental issues in mining and civil engineering education at universities and specialized institutions to form a new generation of mining engineers and civil engineers who will take into account all the aspects of sustainable and responsible work.