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Phytoremediation​​​​​​​​​​​ is the direct use of green plants and their associated microorganisms to stabilize or reduce contamination in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water, or ground water.Because it is a natural process, phytoremediation can be an effective remediation method at a variety of sites and on numerous contaminants. However, sites with low concentrations of contaminants over large cleanup areas and at shallow depths present especially favorable conditions for phytoremediation. Plant species are selected for use based on factors such as ability to extract or degrade the contaminants of concern,adaptation to local climates, high biomass, depth root structure,compatibility with soils, growth rate, ease of planting and maintenance, and ability to take up large quantities of water through the roots. Phytoremediation of metals is a cost-effective "green" technology based on the use of specially selected metal-accumulating plants to remove toxic metals, including radionuclide`s, from soils and water. Phytoremediation takes advantage of the fact that a living plant can be compared to a solar driven pump, which can extract and concentrate particular elements from the environment. Phytoremediation is becoming possible because of successful basic and applied research -- much of it conducted with the productive interdisciplinary cooperation of plant biochemists, molecular biologists, soil chemists, agronomists, environmental engineers, and federal and state regulators. The metals targeted for phytoremediation include lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic and various radionuclide`s. The harvested plant tissue, rich in accumulated contaminant, is easily and safely processed by drying, ashing or composting. The volume of toxic waste produced as a result is generally a fraction of that of many current, more invasive remediation technologies, and the associated costs are much less. Some metals can be reclaimed from the ash, which further reduces the generation of hazardous waste and generates recycling revenues.