Every year, World Soil Day, which is on the 5th of December, raises awareness of one of the most valuable and most undervalued natural resources on the planet. Soil underpins food security, biodiversity, carbon storage, and climate resilience. Yet in the built environment, soil is often treated as a waste product rather than a strategic asset.
For developers, contractors, planning consultants, and sustainability teams, understanding soil health and soil management is becoming increasingly important. This is not only because of environmental responsibilities, but because soil directly influences Whole Life Carbon performance, circular economy opportunities, planning compliance, and BREEAM outcomes.
As sustainability expectations rise across the UK, construction projects are increasingly expected to manage excavation, storage, reuse, and disposal of soil in line with best-practice frameworks such as BREEAM UK, GLA Whole Life Cycle Carbon policies, Defra soil protection guidance, and Environment Agency waste regulations.
This article explores why soil matters, how it relates to carbon, resource efficiency and sustainable construction, and how ADW Developments helps clients integrate soil into credible low-carbon strategies.
🌍 What Is Soil Health and Why Does It Matter?
Soil health refers to the ability of soil to function as a living ecosystem supporting plants, animals, microorganisms, and natural cycles such as water filtration and carbon storage.
Healthy soil is crucial because it:
- Stores significant amounts of carbon, helping mitigate climate change
- Supports biodiversity, including essential microorganisms
- Improves water retention, reducing flood risk
- Enables long-term landscape performance, vital for planning and urban greening
- Reduces erosion and degradation, protecting natural resources
For construction projects, soil health matters not only ecologically but logistically, financially and strategically.
🏗️ Why Soil Matters to the Construction and Development Sector?
1. Soil Is a Major Carbon Store
Excavation, transport and disposal of soil can disturb and release stored carbon.
Under BREEAM Mat 01 and GLA Whole Life Carbon requirements, understanding carbon impacts associated with land disturbance, material movements and waste processes is increasingly important.
2. Soil Disposal Drives Up Embodied Carbon
Transporting excavated soil off-site often involves multiple HGV movements, which are among the highest sources of embodied carbon during early construction phases.
Reducing disposal supports:
- lower Whole Life Carbon impacts
- improved BREEAM outcomes, particularly Mat 01 and Wst 01
- fewer vehicle movements and reduced air quality impacts
- cost savings for clients
3. Soil Reuse Aligns with Circular Economy Requirements
The GLA Circular Economy Statement guidance and BREEAM Wst 01 strongly encourage beneficial reuse of excavated materials, including soil.
On-site reuse can help projects:
- minimise waste generation
- reduce reliance on virgin materials
- reduce transport emissions
- support landscape design and biodiversity
4. Soil Quality Influences Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
To achieve BNG, now a mandatory requirement in England, projects depend on healthy soils that support vegetation, habitats, and long-term ecological performance.
Soil degradation, contamination or poor storage can significantly affect BNG outcomes.
5. Soil Management Is a Planning and Compliance Issue
UK planning authorities increasingly require teams to demonstrate responsible soil handling through:
- Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMPs)
- Waste Management Plans
- Circular Economy Statements
- Carbon reporting submissions
- BNG management and long-term monitoring
Effective soil strategies help ensure smoother planning approvals.
🔍 How Soil Connects to Whole Life Carbon (WLC) Under BREEAM V7
BREEAM V7 places greater emphasis on accurate, evidence-based carbon assessment, including:
- emissions linked to excavation
- temporary and permanent soil movements
- transport impacts
- imported fill materials
- reuse strategies
- as-built verification of actual carbon figures
Soil decisions made at early RIBA stages directly affect both design-stage and post-construction (as-built) carbon results.
Credible carbon reporting increasingly requires teams to account for soil-related impacts, especially in cities such as London, where the GLA WLC Guidance mandates transparent reporting of excavation and material movement.
♻️ Soil and Material Efficiency (BREEAM Mat 06)
Material Efficiency Assessments encourage project teams to:
- minimise excavation volumes wherever possible
- explore opportunities for on-site reuse
- reduce waste creation
- avoid unnecessary import of virgin materials
- identify circulation loops for excess soil
Integrating soil into the Material Efficiency Strategy can improve performance across several BREEAM categories.
🌱 How ADW Developments Supports Soil-Related Sustainability Outcomes
At ADW Developments, we support project teams throughout the development lifecycle, helping them integrate soil considerations into credible sustainability strategies.
Our expertise covers:
Whole Life Carbon Assessments (BREEAM Mat 01 + GLA WLC)
Material Efficiency Assessments (Mat 06)
Circular Economy Statements (Wst 01)
As-Built Verification & Evidence Reporting
Planning and Policy Navigation
Overall, integrating soil into a sustainability strategy helps to:
- reduce carbon emissions
- avoid unnecessary excavation and disposal costs
- support planning applications
- improve BREEAM performance
- enhance biodiversity and long-term site quality
- produce credible, verifiable evidence for assessors and authorities
If you’d like assistance strengthening your WLC reporting, BREEAM evidence or Circular Economy documentation, we’re here to help.