Modelling the environmental implications of phytoremediation in urban settings: a review of the integration of Life Cycle Assessment and Ecosystem Services approaches

Gentle Remediation Options (GRO) such as phytoremediation are gaining particular attention as a sustainable approach for remediating contaminated land and for the redevelopment of critical areas such as urban brownfields. Beyond soil remediation, these solutions can offer multiple benefits in the form of Ecosystem Services (ES), helping mitigate other important urban issues such as the heat island effect or air pollution. The balance between impacts and benefits can be quantitatively assessed combining industrial ecology tools like Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) with the ES evaluation, but the integration of these approaches remains limited. This review focuses on phytoremediation solutions for urban settings and aims to understand how LCA is applied in this specific field, highlighting potential gaps in the integration with the ES evaluation. A systematic literature search resulted in the analysis of 13 studies published between 2010 and 2024. The results show that LCA is a useful tool in the quantitative assessments of this GRO, but efforts should be made to broaden the types of ES considered in the analysis. Moreover, a phytomanagement perspective should be applied, considering the post-remediation effects on the overall impacts-benefits estimation and thus providing decision-makers with a comprehensive tool for sustainable planning.