Promoting the use of recycled aggregates in Wales

WALES Environment Trust has launched a programme to reduce the quantity of inert waste being sent to landfill by developing new markets for recycled aggregates. The four-year project is being funded through the Welsh Assembly Government’s Aggregates Levy Sustainable Fund.

Through its new aggregates programme, the Trust is offering a free consultancy service to local authorities, civil engineers and waste-recycling companies to encourage the use of recycled aggregates in construction projects throughout Wales. The Trust is also looking to develop new markets by liaising with specifying bodies and procurement officers to gain acceptance of recycled aggregates as the preferred alternative to virgin materials.

Of the 5 million tonnes of construction and demolition waste and soil arising in Wales in2001, only 31% was recycled for aggregates use, with a further 13% being reused at licensed landfill sites for site engineering works. The remainder was used to backfill quarry voids or tipped at landfill or exempt sites.

Speaking at the launch of the programme, Carwyn Jones AM, Minister for the Environment, Planning and Countryside, said: ‘Wales Environment Trust’s new aggregates programme is an exciting and much-needed project. In Wales we have a plentiful supply of inert waste, yet its recycling for use as aggregates is not as advanced as in other parts of the UK.

‘The Welsh Assembly Government welcomes these latest efforts to develop new markets for recycled aggregates and hopes to see a marked increase in the use of recycled aggregates in future construction projects across Wales.’