The socio-economic activities due to world development are promoting increasing pressures on
land creating competition and conflicts resulting in suboptimal use of resources. Integrated
planning and management of land resources is a top subject of Agenda 21 (managed by FAO) which
deals with the cross-sectoral aspects of decision-making for the sustainable use and
development of natural resources. This is essential for life-support systems and its productive
capacity. In this context there is a need to find new strategies for sustainable development
that links social and economic progress with environmental protection and enhancement.
Electrokinetic transport processes (EK) uses a low-level direct current as the ¿cleaning
agent¿. EK has been applied to the remediation of polluted soils and other contaminated
matrices. It also shows a great potential to be used in different fields as in saline soil
restoration nutrients recovery from wastes or repair and maintenance of building structures.
EK may be an integrated approach for new strategies aiming at sustainable development and to
support waste strategies with worldwide interest. EK can also be coupled with phytoremediation
and integrated with nanotechnology enlarging the scope of its application. The conciliation of
the EK in the recovery of secondary resources remediation and conservation is a
multidisciplinary novel approach that opens new technical possibilities for waste minimization
through upgrading of particulate waste products and the recovery of secondary resources for
industrial agricultural or social use.
