BRUSSELS, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Recycling land can have positive impacts on the environment and support Europe's transition towards a circular and green economy, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said in a report on Thursday.
Land recycling, the reuse of abandoned, vacant or underused properties, has increased in Europe, but the levels remain low compared to "land take," using natural land, the report said.
The EEA report "Land recycling in Europe" looks at measuring the extent and impacts of redevelopment and densification of previously developed land, either with direct economic aim or with the aim of upgrading its ecological status.
Based on Copernicus satellite data, land recycling as a share of total land consumption across EEA member and cooperating countries has increased from about 2.0 to 2.2 percent from 1990 to 2000 to about 2.7 to 2.9 percent in 2006 to 2012.
Land is a finite resource and land take and soil sealing have long been a cause for environmental concern. By recycling land, the report shows it is possible to reduce new land take and also to improve the ecological status of previously developed land. Thus, land recycling can be key to maintaining and developing green spaces that are important for the ecosystem.
The report also shows that turning previously developed land back into more efficient use or improving its ecological state have greater positive impacts than turning agricultural land into urban development.
