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Rotterdam’s port removes about 5 million cubic metres of material from its basins each year to maintain navigable depths, according to the Port of Rotterdam Authority’s 3 November 2020 report. Researchers are testing whether some dredged sediment can be bound into bricks, but the work is still at the laboratory stage: strength, cost and emissions comparisons with conventional bricks were still pending in September 2026.
Why Rotterdam dredges its waterways
Keeping port basins at the depths needed for navigation requires regular dredging. The Port of Rotterdam Authority reported that about 5 million cubic metres of material are removed annually from the port’s basins in its 3 November 2020 account of a water-injection dredging trial. That figure covers removed material generally; it does not mean all of it is clean, suitable for bricks or available for reuse.
Dredging methods and destinations vary by location and sediment characteristics. In the Calandkanaal trial described in the same report, the Authority injected water into sediment so the resulting water-sediment mixture could move under gravity and/or currents. At that trial location, it 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 report, not a claim that the method works everywhere.
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Can dredged sediment become bricks?
What the MUDIS team is testing
MUDIS is investigating sediment as a possible building material. The consortium includes TU Delft, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Harwich Haven Authority, Netics, Kaumera and SmartPort. In a 10 September 2026 report, SmartPort described TU Delft researchers drying, mixing and moulding dredged sediment into early bricks, then testing them in the laboratory.
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The process described uses Kaumera, a bio-based binder recovered from wastewater treatment, to bind the sediment. It is not a report of fired sediment bricks or cement used as the binder. The team was still working to achieve suitable mechanical properties. The report names facing bricks, partition walls and dike reinforcement as possible applications, not confirmed uses.
What remains unknown
SmartPort said the next step was to compare the developing bricks with conventional bricks for strength, cost and CO₂ emissions, with first results expected in February 2027. That was an expectation stated in September 2026, not a result. The report does not establish a strength rating, a price, a measured emissions advantage or commercial availability. Although it says the approach could potentially reduce production emissions, it gives no comparative emissions result.
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Accordingly, the available information does not show that sediment bricks are ready for construction or that they outperform conventional materials. Nor does a successful test on one sediment mix establish that other dredged material is suitable: material composition and project-specific sampling matter. The sources do not provide a full contamination profile or regulatory documentation for a general-purpose brick product.
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How brick research differs from port-scale sediment reuse
Rotterdam also has a separate sediment-reallocation effort under SURICATES. It addresses sediment balance and shoreline resilience, not the manufacture of building materials.
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| Effort | What it does | Scale or status described by sources |
|---|---|---|
| MUDIS | Tests binding dredged sediment into potential brick materials. | Laboratory work on early bricks; comparisons of strength, cost and CO₂ emissions were still pending in SmartPort’s September 2026 report. |
| SURICATES Rotterdam pilot | Reallocates sediment to support sediment balance and erosion and flood protection, with monitoring near the Maeslant barrier and links to the Groene Poort nature-based project. | The Port of Rotterdam Authority’s project page reports 200,000 tonnes, or 500,000 m³, reallocated in the port. This is not a brick-production volume. |
The Port Authority describes the Rotterdam pilot as part of SURICATES, or “Sediment Use as Resource in Circular And Territorial EconomieS.” Deltares describes the wider effort as planning to use 220,000 tonnes across four projects; that programme-wide figure should not be mistaken for the Rotterdam pilot’s completed volume. Deltares also discusses broader ambitions for future reuse, which are targets rather than proof of achieved Rotterdam outcomes.
How large is sediment reuse beyond Rotterdam?
The Port of Rotterdam Authority’s project page, accessed in 2026, gives European context figures: 200 million m³, or 80 million tonnes, of sediment managed annually across EU ports and waterways, and 1% of dredged marine sediments reused, amounting to 800,000 tonnes per year. These are European figures, not Rotterdam-only totals. The page has no visible publication date in the retrieved material, so the reuse percentage should not be read as a freshly verified current measurement.
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A separate Deltares PRISMA 3 summary, updated 11 August 2025, says the Port of Rotterdam had set a target to reuse at least 1 million m³ of dredged sediment annually. It is a stated target, not evidence that the port has achieved that volume.
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Water-injection dredging
In the Calandkanaal trial, water injection mixed water into sediment so the mixture could be carried by gravity and/or currents. The Port Authority’s 2020 report says that at the trial location, the approach reduced dredging costs compared with removal by trailing suction hopper dredger on a schedule of injections every six to eight weeks. The report does not establish that this method is appropriate for every channel or sediment type.
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Worm-assisted dewatering
A 30 October 2023 Port Authority article described Medeina’s approach to dewatering sediment sludge using worms. The company’s 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.” This is the company’s explanation of its approach as reported by the Authority, not an independently quantified result or proof of suitability at port-wide scale.
What would prove the bricks are ready for practical use?
The most useful next evidence is the comparison SmartPort said was planned: measured strength, cost and CO₂ emissions against conventional bricks. A practical decision would also depend on whether a particular sediment stream is suitable and meets relevant project and regulatory requirements. The sources cited here do not provide a complete lifecycle comparison between brick-making and other reuse routes, or a comprehensive sediment contamination profile.
For port-scale relocation, the relevant evidence is different: whether sediment placement improves local sediment balance and supports erosion or flood protection, as monitored in the SURICATES pilot. That environmental and infrastructure objective cannot establish whether the same sediment would make a safe or durable brick.
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