Background Landfilling is the most common form of disposal for waste that cannot be reused or recycled and where there are no thermal waste treatment plants available. Improper landfilling or after-care techniques can cause serious environmental problems through ground and surface water contamination. The development of alternative methods for landfill management and after care to provide a more sustainable approach are therefore of great interest. The need for the reclamation of landfill sites to avoid long-term contamination is widely recognised in the EU and accession countries. According to Slovene and EU Directives, old landfill sites have to be rehabilitated by 2008 and there is a strong need for the protection of drinking water sources near landfill sites. There are a series of European Directives and agreements providing the framework for action including on: Water (2000/60/EC); Urban Waste Water Treatment (91/271/EEC); Landfill of Wastes (1999/31/EC, 7028/99); Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (96/61/EC); and Urban Waste Water Treatment (91/271/EEC). There is also a proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on an action programme for integrated ground water protection and management (96/C355/01), a Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution (77/585/EEC) and a Slovenian Decree on the Emission of Substances and Heat in the Drainage of Wastewater from Pollution Sources (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia 35/96, 7/00). Objectives The project sought to apply an eco-remediation methodology at the landfill site of Dobrava, in the agricultural lowland of Pannonia (Municipality of Ormoz) Slovenia. The project aimed to demonstrate a successful “green technology” to reduce the environmental impact of landfill sites through a closed hydrological and pollution cycle to complement and exceed existing legislation in the promotion of sustainable landfilling technologies. The methodology consists in establishing dense woodland as a water barrier and in constructing a wetland for leachate treatment aiming to provide efficient water protection to reduce the risk of surface and groundwater contamination from nitrogen, phosphorus, ammonia, bacteria, heavy metals and other toxic compounds. It furthermore aimed to protect the landfill site against wind, landfill erosion and odours and reduce the emission of gases responsible for the greenhouse effect (CO2, CH4). The methodology aimed to provoke quicker stabilisation of the landfill site leading to reclamation of the landscape. As well as aesthetic improvements it was expected that this would create a new ecosystem with an increase in wildlife and biodiversity. This targeted rapid second use of the revitalised site, rendering possible new forms of public use of landfills and thus increasing their public acceptance. The project targeted sufficient income generation from increased wood biomass production to cover 25% of the maintenance and construction costs of the site. It also targeted efficiency gains resulting in a more rational use of public funds and should therefore provide a model that can be copied and applied worldwide. Results The LIMNOTOP project successfully demonstrated a sustainable and reliable method for rehabilitating landfills in line with EU criteria. This innovative methodology moved from a traditional storage-based landfill concept to a process pre-treating leachate in constructed wetland and recycling nutrients and pollutants through the establishment of a dense woodland final cover. Although actual costs can vary due to local conditions, the project results suggest savings are as high as 51% compared to leachate treatment systems and 31% for the final cover of landfill sites with synthetic layers. The innovative methodology allows a landfill site to become a bioreactor with a closed-loop hydrological and pollution cycle, preventing any leachate outflow into the environment and thus offering maximum protection of local aquatic ecosystems and water supplies. Offensive odours are eliminated and the emission of greenhouse gases reduced through a gas drainage system and the increased assimilation of CO2 and the oxidation of methane by the vegetative growth. The methodology demonstrated a significant uptake of water and substances - including nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, cadmium and zinc - from the leachate; no accumulation of salts or heavy metals was found in the landfill cover material. Efficiency gains are achieved since controlled water infiltration into the landfill body removes the need for the maintenance of airtight landfill cover integrity and the intensive degradation processes in the landfill body achieve faster waste stabilisation. Leachate was successfully reused in the process as a plant nutrient source generating vigorous growth in the vegetative cover. The woodland creation allowed for the cultivation of energy crops to generate an income to cover some of the maintenance costs. This new method of landfill management enables the secondary use of revitalised landfill sites improving biodiversity and increasing their public acceptance. There are numerous possibilities for the application and transferability of the approach demonstrated in Slovenia in other areas with similar climatic regimes. Wide possibilities are open for the rehabilitation of illegal dump sites and environmentally damaging landfills across the world where the levels of toxic components are not prohibitively high. Dissemination of the project results will continue with presentations at scientific conferences and the provision of guided visits of the Slovenian site.