Aggregates and construction markets in Europe : towards a sectoral action plan on sustainable resource management

Aggregates are granular materials – sand, gravel and crushed rock, in particular. Usually they are not thought of as a hot spot of environmental policy. This paper looks at the most important aspects of the aggregates system throughout Europe and puts it into the wider context of sustainable resource management as launched by the European Commission (2005b) in its thematic strategy (COM(2005) 670 final). Aggregates are important for sustainable resource management chiefly for two reasons:•their material intensity – their relevance for increasing resource productivity in the European Union (EU) as part of the Lisbon strategy and the sustainability strategy;1•their environmental intensity – their relevance for increasing eco‐efficiency and for lowering environmental impacts in the EU.Both dimensions will be looked at in this paper. For understanding those dimensions, the aggregates value chain – the construction material industries, the building industries' outcomes, and the housing sector – is crucial too....