As redevelopment accelerates across Oxfordshire — from the proposed Oxford United stadium to the major Oxford North project — specialists are shining a spotlight on the region’s soil quality for World Soil Day.
With increasing demand for housing, infrastructure and commercial space, the safe management of contaminated land has never been more crucial.
A recent report from the Department for International Trade revealed that more than 400,000 hectares of land in the UK — around 0.16 per cent — is classified as contaminated. According to James Cox, Divisional Manager for Asbestos Removal and Land Remediation at Maylarch Environmental Ltd, the scale of the issue is often underestimated.
“Contaminated land is far more widespread than people would assume,” he said. “The extent to which we find hazardous soil when clearing sites for homes, roads, industrial buildings and even schools is quite surprising. Much of it comes down to poor historical practice.”
Contaminated soil is identified through specialist laboratory testing. If asbestos fibres make up more than 0.01 per cent of a sample, the land is deemed contaminated and cannot be built on until it is safely managed.
Once identified, teams like Maylarch develop remediation strategies tailored to the site. These may include removing polluted soil entirely, capping the ground with clean material or reducing excavation by testing multiple sources to pinpoint the problem area.
Based in Witney and operating across the south of England, Maylarch specialises in demolition, asbestos removal and land remediation.
In 2024 alone, the company diverted 29,679 tonnes of demolition waste from landfill — equivalent to the weight of more than 2,100 double-decker buses — achieving a 98 per cent recycling rate for non-hazardous materials.
Cox notes that many contamination issues stem from outdated demolition practices.
“Buildings demolished decades ago were often buried on site, leaving behind asbestos fibres, hydrocarbons and heavy metals. It’s created a huge workload which, with hindsight, was entirely avoidable,” he said.
“The demolition industry today is highly misunderstood. We don’t simply knock things down and walk away — our recycling rates prove how far the sector has evolved.”
He added that soil quality remains essential to life, even on land destined for construction.
“Without soil, around 95 per cent of our food wouldn’t reach our plates. It must be respected, monitored and managed for the sake of public health and the environment.”
