The Executive provided funding of £670,000 (£750,000 was offered) over two years, 2002-04, to fund a comprehensive new programme for Scotland aimed at increasing the country's production and use of secondary aggregates and recycled aggregates. It was designed to ease pressure on finite primary resources - and on landfill sites - by helping develop markets for more sustainable alternative materials. Further work continued in 2004-07.
Recycled and secondary aggregates have the potential to meet 25% of Scotland's needs for construction aggregates within the built environment. WRAP aims to inform and direct the diverse members of the supply chain to a more sustainable use of resources.
Building on the aggregates programme that WRAP established for England in April 2002, and reflecting the issues relating to the aggregates industry in Scotland, the Scottish programme included:
- an information service for all stakeholders in the aggregate chain, the key feature being www.aggregain.org.uk, an interactive website with information on all aspects of recycling
- a research programme to support and expand research into aggregate related issues relevant to Scotland
- a Capital Competition to stimulate the development of secondary and recycled aggregates infrastructure in Scotland
- a Business Development Service (BDS) and to provide technical and business planning advice to businesses involved in secondary and recycled aggregates.
- participation by Scottish Stakeholders in the Aggregates Forum.
More information on each aspect of the programme is given below.
Information
To promote all aspects of aggregates recycling AggRegain, a comprehensive website was established for all stakeholders in the aggregates chain at www.aggregain.org.uk. This interactive website included case studies, a supplier directory, technical notes and an " AggRegain Specifier", a tool to help specifiers and buyers choose the right aggregate for the right application.
Research
As part of the research programme, WRAP commissioned the following research projects in Scotland:
- The Role of the Construction Client
- Indicators
- Development of New Materials
- Material Flows (Mass Balance)
- Implications of Harmonised ENs (Standards)
- Planning
- Barriers to C&DW as Recycled Aggregates.
These projects built on similar work undertaken for England but were to focus specifically on Scotland. For each project a detailed report was to be published and freely available for download from WRAP's website.
A number of Scottish specific case studies were also commissioned for the AggRegain website www.aggregain.org.uk .
Capital Competition
In the early summer of 2003, a capital competition was run to stimulate the development of aggregates recycling infrastructure in Scotland. There were two primary objectives of the competition, first to intercept recyclable aggregates currently going to landfill and second to encourage processing of recycled aggregates further up the value chain.
Aggregates Forum
The Aggregates Forum, made up of representatives of a cross section of stakeholders with an interest in aggregates recycling, included Scottish delegates. It met six monthly, with the outcome of meetings summarised in reports on WRAP's website. An issue regarded by the Forum members as important was the definition of waste and its potential impact on aggregates recycling. The position was summarised in a report "Common messages on classification of recycled and secondary aggregates as waste". For further information see www.aggregain.org.uk/wrap_aggregates
Business Development Service
Through the business development service WRAP can provide business planning advice to businesses interested in developing aggregates recycling operations. By advising on various aspects of the business plan WRAP aims to help strengthen business proposals both to improve the chances of success of the venture and to help raise commercial finance. Technical Advice can also be provided by the WRAP Aggregates team. WRAP has also established the Recycling Fund to provide equity finance for recycling businesses.
Contact
WRAP operates a free telephone helpline 0808 100 2040.
WRAP, The Old Academy, 21 Horse Fair, Banbury, Oxon OX16 0AH
www.wrap.org.uk