Introduction

Anthropogenic activities have resulted in contaminated soils covering significant areas of land. In the Eighties people recognised the size and the consequences of this problem. Initially, treatment and remediation processes were developed mainly by the industry. Very often those approaches were very pragmatic and there was a lack of a scientific basis for the processes, and a need for optimisation and further development. This gap has been closed in the meantime, but there is of course a need for further investigations.