New research into the life cycle of aggregates
FOLLOWING an open tender launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in January, the Minerals Industry Research Organisation (MIRO), in partnership with Imperial College London, has been awarded the tender to carry out a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of aggregates.
The work will cover aggregates produced from both primary and recycled resources, incorporating a comparison between processing options for aggregates for unbound applications, concrete and asphalt.
MIRO, the international collaborative research and technological development facilitator, will work with The Mining and Environmental Engineering Research Group at Imperial College London, which specializes in minerals engineering and its environmental impacts and has a proven track record in LCA model development. The group has already developed and implemented a mining LCA model in collaboration with the European industry and is currently developing an LCA model for CO2 capture and storage sponsored by the power-generation industry.
The aggregates project will assess the relative proximity of sources of primary aggregates and recycled aggregates to the market place and disposal options for inert construction and demolition wastes in the UK.
Keith James, environmental advisor at WRAP, said: ‘The two organizations offer a thorough understanding of the aggregates industry and the application of life-cycle assessment to aggregate systems; this will ensure a quality of reporting on the environmental profiles of various sources of aggregates, as well as on the comparative environmental impacts of the different disposal and recovery routes.’
The partnership is due to report the findings of the project in September 2007.
