Environmental Impact and Sustainability in Aggregate Production and Use

Abstract

For aggregates as for most engineering materials, standards have been written by engineers. And engineers are first of all concerned with technical requirements. However, in the future, probably the environmentalists will take over much of the standardisation work. And they will focus on environmental impact and sustainability. Already we see an increasing awareness from society when it comes to the exploration, quarrying, production and use of mineral resources: The non-renewable character of the resources; the environmental impact on neighbourhood and nature; the conflicts of interest versus preservation, groundwater, agriculture and building areas; sustainability concerning mass balance and deposition of surplus sizes; and not least—the increasing transport lengths required to get the materials to the places of use. Actions should be taken to meet these challenges by following up the principles of a Best Available Concept (BAC), as suggested in the EU project EcoServe. This concept works with four essential phases: (1) Inventory and planning, (2) Quarrying and production, (3) Use of aggregates in construction, and finally (4) Reclamation of mined-out areas. LCC (Life Cycle Cost) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) tools should be used to compare alternatives and calculate/foresee the environmental as well as economic consequences of choices and decisions.