The valorization of dredged sediments (DS) presents a sustainable solution for managing waste while addressing resource scarcity and environmental concerns. This review explores treatment techniques and reuse options for DS, focusing on applications in the construction industry. However, disposal poses challenges due to potential contamination with heavy metals and organic pollutants. The study categorizes treatment approaches into physical, chemical, biological, and thermal processes. Physical methods, such as separation and dewatering, offer volume reduction but have limited capacities against chemically bound contaminants. Chemical treatments, including oxidation and immobilization, target specific pollutants but often entail high costs and environmental risks. Biological approaches, such as bioremediation and phytoremediation, provide sustainable, low-cost alternatives but require longer timescales. Thermal processes like pyrolysis and vitrification efficiently destroy or stabilize contaminants but involve high energy demands. Pyrolysis emerges as a particularly promising technology, combining effective decontamination with energy recovery and biochar production. Despite the advances in the area, the review identifies key barriers to large-scale DS reuse: contamination variability, lack of standardized guidelines, and limited long-term performance data. Future research should focus on integrated treatment strategies, such as combining DS with other industrial by-products, and optimization of processing, aiming to attain cost-effective, sustainable reuse. Overall, the valorization of treated DS supports circular-economy principles and offers significant environmental and economic benefits.

One of the biggest challenges in the construction industry in recent times is the mitigation of the environmental impact of this sector, the reduction in dependence on primary raw materials, and the reduction in CO₂ production while maintaining functional properties. Alkaline activation of a number of waste products represents a promising way to achieve the above-mentioned goals, but the availability of a number of waste products changes over time, especially in Europe. While freshwater sediments were in the past widely utilized as an agricultural fertilizer, recent precautions have significantly decreased such application, and thus new destinations must be delivered. To explore the potential of freshwater sediments, select samples from various locations were subjected to detailed characterization to verify the applicability of the material for alkali activation. As recognized, the selected sediments contain a substantial volume of desired mineralogical compounds that can serve, after 900 °C curing, as suitable precursors. Such samples have consequently activated the mixture of alkaline activators to obtain dense structures and were subjected to detailed investigation aimed at understanding the mechanical parameters. The obtained mechanical results ranging between 14.9 MPa and 36.8 MPa reveal the engineering potential of sediments for valorization through alkali activation and outline new research challenges in this area.

The circular economy transition encompasses the identification of various available and sustainable materials to replace traditional binders in the construction industry. The utilization of water sediments represents this point as a beneficial action that may provide synergy in terms of waste reduction and replacement of energy-intensive materials. To explore the potential of water sediments, this study contemplated the characterization of water sediments as precursors for the design of alkali-activated materials (AAMs). The experimental approach was based on the detailed characterization of raw materials’ chemical, mineralogical, and basic material properties and the assessment of the designed AAM paste and mortar samples. The results achieved revealed the capability of low amorphous water sediments to form dense structures with favorable mechanical performance, reaching up to 36.8 MPa in compressive strength. The microstructural and water sorption characteristics point to the applicability of such materials in the building practice and, thus, the valorization of water sediments into valuable material.