Rotterdam’s port removes about 5 million cubic metres of material from its basins each year to maintain navigation depths, according to the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s 3 November 2020 report. Some sediment may have a second use: researchers are testing whether it can be bound into bricks. That work is still at the laboratory stage, and the brick’s strength, cost and emissions have not yet been compared with conventional bricks.
Why does Rotterdam dredge so much material?
Ships need navigable water depths, so sediment that accumulates in port basins must be managed. The Port of Rotterdam Authority reported that around 5 million cubic metres of material are removed annually from the port’s basins in its 2020 account of a water-injection dredging trial. The figure describes dredged material generally, not a measured quantity of clean sediment suitable for bricks.
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The scale is part of a wider European challenge. A Port Authority project page gives a European estimate of 200 million cubic metres, or 80 million tonnes, of sediment managed each year across ports and waterways. It also says 1% of dredged marine sediments—800,000 tonnes per year—is reused. The page has no visible publication date, so these figures should be read as context reported on that page, not as verified current measurements or Rotterdam-only totals. Port of Rotterdam Authority: Re-using sediment
Can dredged sediment be made into bricks?
A research consortium called MUDIS is investigating that possibility. Its participants include TU Delft, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Harwich Haven Authority, Netics, Kaumera and SmartPort. In the process described by SmartPort, researchers dry and mix sediment, mould it, and use Kaumera—a bio-based binder recovered from wastewater treatment—to hold it together. The approach does not rely on firing the sediment or using cement as the binder. SmartPort: From port sediment to building material
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What researchers have established so far
SmartPort’s 10 September 2026 report describes laboratory work by TU Delft researchers Alex Kirichek, Caroline Grilo and Annu Mathew. The team was testing early bricks and seeking a mixture with the required mechanical properties. It names facing bricks, partition walls and dike reinforcement as possible applications; these are potential uses, not confirmed approvals or demonstrated commercial products.
The report says the next step is to compare the material with conventional bricks on strength, cost and CO₂ emissions, with first results expected in February 2027. That was an expectation stated in September 2026, not a published result. The report gives no comparative emissions figure, strength result or price, so it does not yet establish that sediment bricks outperform conventional ones or are ready for construction.
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How is this different from Rotterdam’s large-scale sediment reuse?
Rotterdam also has a separate sediment-reallocation effort under SURICATES. The Port Authority reports that its Rotterdam pilot reallocated 200,000 tonnes, or 500,000 cubic metres, of sediment in the port. The pilot monitors sediment balance near the Maeslant barrier and is connected to the Groene Poort nature-based project. Deltares describes the purpose as improving sediment balance and supporting erosion and flood protection. This is a landscape and shoreline-resilience intervention, not a brick-making project. Port of Rotterdam Authority: Re-using sediment Deltares: The SURICATES project
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Deltares says the wider SURICATES programme planned to use 220,000 tonnes of sediment across four projects. That programme-wide figure should not be confused with the Rotterdam pilot total or treated as a completed Rotterdam outcome. Nor does relocating sediment demonstrate that a particular sediment mix is suitable for a building material: the two routes have different purposes and require different evidence.
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What other methods are being explored?
Water-injection dredging
In its 3 November 2020 report, the Port Authority described a trial in Calandkanaal. Water is injected into sediment to create a water-sediment mixture that can move under gravity and/or currents. At that trial location, the Authority reported that injecting sediment with water every six to eight weeks instead of removing it with a trailing suction hopper dredger reduced dredging costs. That is a site-specific result reported by the Authority, not proof that the method suits all port basins or sediment conditions. Port of Rotterdam Authority: Water-injection dredging trial
Worm-assisted dewatering
A separate approach described by the Port Authority in 2023 uses worms to help drain water from sediment sludge. Medeina CEO Miguel de Lucas said: “When our worms are introduced into sediment with water, they create a network of tunnels all through the sediment. This significantly accelerates the drainage of water.” The statement describes the company’s approach as reported by the Authority; it is not an independently quantified result or evidence of suitability for every sediment type or port-wide deployment. Port of Rotterdam Authority: Worms as a solution for dewatering sediment sludge
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What remains unproven?
For sediment bricks, the central unanswered questions are whether the material meets the necessary mechanical requirements and how its strength, cost and CO₂ emissions compare with conventional bricks. The September 2026 SmartPort report says those comparisons were still pending.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteMore broadly, the project accounts do not provide a complete contamination profile for all dredged material, a comparable life-cycle assessment across reuse options, or evidence that every kind of sediment can be reused in the same way. The Rotterdam pilot is described in terms of clean sediment reallocation, while other accounts discuss dredged material or sludge in different contexts. Suitability and environmental safety therefore depend on the specific material and project; the available descriptions do not establish universal building use or a retail product.
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Separately, a Deltares PRISMA 3 summary updated 11 August 2025 says the Port of Rotterdam had set a target to reuse at least 1 million cubic metres of dredged sediment annually. This is a stated target, not evidence that the port had achieved that annual volume. The summary places reuse within a broader programme examining dredging emissions and costs, sediment transport and data-driven efficiency. Deltares Public Wiki: PRISMA 3
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