Conception of waste management and regeneration of post-industrial land in example of mining residues dumping grounds

Active mining operations in range of gaining raw material have very negative impact on the natural environment. Long-term observations proved that mining exploitation causes very significant changes in natural environment, in the region in which it is conducted. Particularly, this is applies to underground exploitation of hard coal. Underground exploitation and associated coal production cause that a lot of post-mining wastes are formed. These wastes for several years of exploitation in Poland were deposited in post-mining dumps. As a result of these activity in the Silesia voivodeship it was created 150 dumps, in which huge amounts of these wastes are stored. These dumps very negatively impact on the natural environment of the region. They disrupt naturally-shaped landscape and products of physical-chemical processes in these dumps contaminate air and ground water. In order to restore the proper state of these terrain it is necessary to undertake very active pro-ecological actions. In the paper, conception of post-mining waste management deposited in dumping ground and revitalization of grounds where they are located, is presented. Already the preliminary analysis of commercialization effects of this conception has confirmed that it is economically and socially justified, and its effects should have positive impact on natural environment. Paper focuses on elaboration of methodology of post-mining waste management and revitalization of post-industrial grounds. For that, standard procedure algorithm of recovery raw material process and revitalization of post-mining waste dump was developed. It was assumed, that all components of this algorithm should inscribe to the complex approach to the management of wastes coming from mining activity and revitalization of areas after waste disposal. Main activities which are formulated in algorithm are: discontinuing of further landfill sites, recovering wastes from existing waste dumping for further economical use and restoring for utilization degraded and devastated landfill by mining activities. In order to practical implementation of these activities universal procedures were developed, which are designed to effective management of waste deposited on waste dumping and revitalization of land after these wastes dump. In the presented process a very significant meaning has also a proper legal validity of activities carried out. Therefore in the paper the legal validity in range of waste management from post-mining dumping ground and revitalization of land after these wastes dump in EU were discussed. In the paper, example of effective application of developed procedures by one of the companies specializing in the rock material recovery from dumping grounds was also presented. Authors have hope that presented conception of waste management and revitalization of post-industrial lands will be used in practice. Its final effect should be improvement of the air and soil quality and restoration of natural environment of degraded grounds.