WBCSD releases new quarrying guidelines

7 February, 2012 - 17:38
Quarry restoration
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World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launches practical guidance on quarry rehabilitation

THE World Business Council for Sustainable Development has released new practical guidance for managing the impacts of quarrying activities and ensuring that environments are properly revitalized. Led by the Council’s Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI), ‘Guidelines on Quarry Rehabilitation’ was carried out by a group of member companies and is based on methods that they have successfully employed.

‘In recognizing their responsibility for effective quarry rehabilitation, our members wanted to share their practical experiences and expertise in order to potentially help other companies involved in similar quarrying or rehabilitation activities,’ said Phillipe Fonta, managing director of WBCSD CSI. ‘In 2005, all CSI members had committed to prepare their rehabilitation plans and make them public before the operation of new cement sites.’

The new guidelines, which feature 30 operational case studies covering a wide range of quarry types and local habitats around the world, reflect the principles of quarry rehabilitation established by a consensus among the CSI members and outlines the conditions and milestones for developing rehabilitation plans.

These include: defining context and assessing baseline conditions; setting technical and financial sustainable objectives; planning finances; developing and implementing plans; and monitoring, adjustments and post-closure land-use management.

According to WBCSD, these types of planning constitute a proactive approach to quarry operation and rehabilitation, applicable to both new and existing sites. As such, legal compliance should always be considered as the minimum requirement and operators should leave sites in a safe and stable condition.

Mr Fonta said: ‘We firmly believe that the benefits to the natural environment and local communities of progressive and pragmatic quarry rehabilitation outweigh the long-term rehabilitation costs to the cement companies.’