Sediment accumulation in harbours, canals, rivers and water bodies prevents vessel circulation and disrupts the physical and chemical balances of aquatic environments. To ensure inland waterway and port transportation, but also to assist in the maintenance and restoration of aquatic natural environments, managers must undertake dredging operations. The volumes in play are very important: • on the maritime domain, the annual maintenance of all French ports (trade, fishing, pleasure) represents about 50 million m³ of dredged sediment; For Hauts-de-France the volume of marine sediment to be dredged annually amounts to almost 5 million m³ and will reach 7 million m³ within the next ten years, • on the river domain, 6 million m³ are extracted every year in France; For Hauts-de-France, the volume of river sediments dredged annually is currently between 150000 and 250 000 m³, while requirements for the navigability and natural flow of water were estimated in 2008 at 10 million m³ over 20 years (Value established by the Voies Navigables de France – VNF- not including the ecological reconquest needs of the natural environment) Dredging sediments are considered waste once land management is to be considered.