SUSTAINABLE QUARRYING
Running OUT?
Is Time
When the Government introduced an aggregates levy in April 2002 what was the impact on quarrying natural resources and are there any alternatives?
Report by GREG RHODES
WHEN the issue of sustainability is raised, eyes will turn at some point towards quarrying.
Contrary to commonly-held
perceptions of quarrying as a process that rapes the landscape of its natural beauty and its virgin materials, this age- old practice in many ways can show itself to be a model of good practice. In one sense, quarrying is a sustainable industry, argues John Halfpenny, the new Chairman of the British Rootzone and Top Dressing Manufacturers Association (BRTMA), whose members supply sand and organic material-based products to the sportsturf industry.
“Sustainable quarrying is about meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Quarry companies already have consent to extract some 6bn tonnes so there would seem to be plenty left. “For so long as Government mineral planning policy provides access to raw materials to meet society’s end-use
demand, sustainability will exist,” he adds.
There’s no danger of virgin materials running out then? “Existing planned mineral reserves will last for at least 30 years at current rates of consumption,” Halfpenny explains, “and with the mineral planning land bank continually being updated, there is no suggestion of materials supply running out.” Halfpenny views quarrying as a
‘fluid’ process generating value and worth in more ways than one. “At the front end we gain minerals, at the back end, sport and leisure facilities as quarry companies reclaim spent sites. As they dig one hole, they restore and refurbish another one.” The industry polices itself stringently, Halfpenny adds, and maintains strict environmental standards that he claims are well ahead of Governmental measures. “We are looking at a mature industry [quarrying] supplying a still young one [the sportsturf sector], so it is understandable that quarrying
companies have a responsible mentality and look towards generating markets for secondary materials, which add value.”
He goes on: “Unlike crops, forestry, and foodstocks, minerals cannot be renewed and replaced, and it is therefore extremely important to use them wisely.
“Many quarrying companies are
therefore setting their own standards for responsible quarrying that go beyond Government compliance standards in regard to reducing the environmental impact of transportation and providing quarry restoration projects to develop lakes, leisure parks and nature reserves.
Many of their customers, such as sports facilities, are subject to environmental issues of their own, Halfpenny explains, and their “paymasters” are looking to ever- higher standards of environmentally sound practice. “We have therefore a virtuous circle
“The industry polices itself stringently and maintains strict environmental standards that are way ahead of Government measures”
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