IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/recore/v126y2017icp25-33.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is gravel becoming scarce? Evaluating the local criticality of construction aggregates

Author

Listed:
  • Ioannidou, Dimitra
  • Meylan, Grégoire
  • Sonnemann, Guido
  • Habert, Guillaume

Abstract

Natural aggregates are considered an immense natural resource at the global level; however some regions face a supply constraint due to the overexploitation of natural aggregates in construction. This paper presents an assessment of the local criticality of quarried aggregates by adapting the methodology for metal criticality determination to the characteristics of construction aggregates. Two approaches, strong and weak locality, are envisaged to examine different substitution scenarios in the case of local supply constraint. The adapted methodology examines three dimensions: Supply Risk, Environmental Implications and Vulnerability to Supply Restriction. The application of the methodology to the cantons of Switzerland shows that inside a country, the criticality is driven by the Supply Risk, which depends on the surface and number of quarries and their distribution in the region. A comparison of the supply risk of aggregates with the supply risk of steel shows that for most of the cantons the supply risk of natural aggregates is lower. The application of this methodology at a world scale will indicate highly critical regions and enable policymakers to define measures for ensuring a sustainable growth, either by regulating the extraction of aggregates or by demonstrating the local need to consider the use of other materials, apart from concrete.

Suggested Citation

  • Ioannidou, Dimitra & Meylan, Grégoire & Sonnemann, Guido & Habert, Guillaume, 2017. "Is gravel becoming scarce? Evaluating the local criticality of construction aggregates," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 25-33.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:126:y:2017:i:c:p:25-33
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.07.016
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344917301957
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.07.016?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ioannidou, Dimitra & Nikias, Vasileios & Brière, Raphaël & Zerbi, Stefano & Habert, Guillaume, 2015. "Land-cover-based indicator to assess the accessibility of resources used in the construction sector," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 80-91.
    2. Jin, Yanya & Kim, Junbeum & Guillaume, Bertrand, 2016. "Review of critical material studies," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 77-87.
    3. Harper, E.M. & Diao, Zhouwei & Panousi, Stefania & Nuss, Philip & Eckelman, Matthew J. & Graedel, T.E., 2015. "The criticality of four nuclear energy metals," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 193-201.
    4. Sylvain Guignot & Solène Touzé & Frédéric Weid & Yannick Ménard & Jacques Villeneuve, 2015. "Recycling Construction and Demolition Wastes as Building Materials: A Life Cycle Assessment," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(6), pages 1030-1043, December.
    5. Habert, G. & Bouzidi, Y. & Chen, C. & Jullien, A., 2010. "Development of a depletion indicator for natural resources used in concrete," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 364-376.
    6. E. M. Harper & Goksin Kavlak & Lara Burmeister & Matthew J. Eckelman & Serkan Erbis & Vicente Sebastian Espinoza & Philip Nuss & T. E. Graedel, 2015. "Criticality of the Geological Zinc, Tin, and Lead Family," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(4), pages 628-644, August.
    7. Achzet, Benjamin & Helbig, Christoph, 2013. "How to evaluate raw material supply risks—an overview," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 435-447.
    8. Pearce, David W. & Atkinson, Giles D., 1993. "Capital theory and the measurement of sustainable development: an indicator of "weak" sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 103-108, October.
    9. Ekins, Paul & Simon, Sandrine & Deutsch, Lisa & Folke, Carl & De Groot, Rudolf, 2003. "A framework for the practical application of the concepts of critical natural capital and strong sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(2-3), pages 165-185, March.
    10. Mirjana Malešev & Vlastimir Radonjanin & Snežana Marinković, 2010. "Recycled Concrete as Aggregate for Structural Concrete Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(5), pages 1-22, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Casanovas-Rubio, Maria del Mar & Ramos, Gonzalo, 2017. "Decision-making tool for the assessment and selection of construction processes based on environmental criteria: Application to precast and cast-in-situ alternatives," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 107-117.
    2. Josefine A. Olsson & Sabbie A. Miller & Mark G. Alexander, 2023. "Near-term pathways for decarbonizing global concrete production," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    3. Inka Randebrock & Sylvia Marinova & Vanessa Bach & Rosalie Arendt & Matthias Finkbeiner, 2023. "Adapting the ESSENZ Method to Assess the Criticality of Construction Materials: Case Study of Herne, Germany," Resources, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, August.
    4. Escavy, J.I. & Herrero, M.J. & Lopez-Acevedo, F. & Trigos, L., 2022. "The progressive distancing of aggregate quarries from the demand areas: Magnitude, causes, and impact on CO2 emissions in Madrid Region (1995–2018)," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Nada Bendahmane & Natacha Gondran & Jacques Chevalier, 2024. "Are Existing LCIA Methods Related to Mineral and Metal Resources Relevant for an AESA Approach Applied to the Building Sector? Case Study on the Construction of New Buildings in France," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Simon Glöser-Chahoud & Luis Tercero Espinoza & Rainer Walz & Martin Faulstich, 2016. "Taking the Step towards a More Dynamic View on Raw Material Criticality: An Indicator Based Analysis for Germany and Japan," Resources, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Hache, Emmanuel & Seck, Gondia Sokhna & Simoen, Marine & Bonnet, Clément & Carcanague, Samuel, 2019. "Critical raw materials and transportation sector electrification: A detailed bottom-up analysis in world transport," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 6-25.
    3. Baumgärtner, Stefan & Quaas, Martin F., 2009. "Ecological-economic viability as a criterion of strong sustainability under uncertainty," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2008-2020, May.
    4. Dietz, Simon & Neumayer, Eric, 2007. "Weak and strong sustainability in the SEEA: Concepts and measurement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 617-626, March.
    5. Rickels, Wilfried & Weigand, Christian & Grasse, Patricia & Schmidt, Jörn Oliver & Voss, Rüdiger, 2018. "Does the European Union achieve comprehensive blue growth? Progress of EU coastal states in the Baltic and North Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean against sustainable development Goal 14," Kiel Working Papers 2112, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Lapko, Yulia & Trucco, Paolo, 2018. "Influence of power regimes on identification and mitigation of material criticality: The case of platinum group metals in the automotive sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 360-370.
    7. Ang, Frederic & Van Passel, Steven & Mathijs, Erik, 2011. "An aggregate resource efficiency perspective on sustainability: A Sustainable Value application to the EU-15 countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 99-110.
    8. de Castro-Pardo, Mónica & Cabello, José Manuel & Martín, José María & Ruiz, Francisco, 2023. "A multi reference point based index to assess and monitor European water policies from a sustainability approach," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    9. Acocella, Nicola & Di Giovanni, Tomasz, 2019. "Natural Resources and Environment Preservation: Strategic Substitutability vs. Complementarity in Global and Local Public Good Provision," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(3-4), pages 203-227, September.
    10. Missemer, Antoine, 2018. "Natural Capital as an Economic Concept, History and Contemporary Issues," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 90-96.
    11. Shule Li & Jingjing Yan & Qiuming Pei & Jinghua Sha & Siyu Mou & Yong Xiao, 2019. "Risk Identification and Evaluation of the Long-term Supply of Manganese Mines in China Based on the VW-BGR Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-23, May.
    12. Vidal, Rosario & Alberola-Borràs, Jaume-Adrià & Mora-Seró, Iván, 2020. "Abiotic depletion and the potential risk to the supply of cesium," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    13. Aiman Fadil & Paul Davis & John Geraghty, 2023. "A Mixed-Method Approach to Determine the Successful Factors Affecting the Criticality Level of Intermediate and Final Products on National Basis: A Case Study from Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-29, March.
    14. Dewulf, Jo & Blengini, Gian Andrea & Pennington, David & Nuss, Philip & Nassar, Nedal T., 2016. "Criticality on the international scene: Quo vadis?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 169-176.
    15. Ahi, Payman & Searcy, Cory & Jaber, Mohamad Y., 2018. "A Quantitative Approach for Assessing Sustainability Performance of Corporations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 336-346.
    16. Glöser, Simon & Tercero Espinoza, Luis & Gandenberger, Carsten & Faulstich, Martin, 2015. "Raw material criticality in the context of classical risk assessment," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 35-46.
    17. Itziar Barinaga-Rementeria & Iker Etxano, 2020. "Weak or Strong Sustainability in Rural Land Use Planning? Assessing Two Case Studies through Multi-Criteria Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    18. Helbig, Christoph & Bradshaw, Alex M. & Kolotzek, Christoph & Thorenz, Andrea & Tuma, Axel, 2016. "Supply risks associated with CdTe and CIGS thin-film photovoltaics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 422-433.
    19. Levrel, Harold & Jacob, Céline & Bailly, Denis & Charles, Mahe & Guyader, Olivier & Aoubid, Schéhérazade & Bas, Adeline & Cujus, Alexia & Frésard, Marjolaine & Girard, Sophie & Hay, Julien & Laurans, , 2014. "The maintenance costs of marine natural capital: A case study from the initial assessment of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive in France," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 37-47.
    20. Zugravu-Soilita, Natalia & Kafrouni, Rajwane & Bouard, Séverine & Apithy, Leïla, 2021. "Do cultural capital and social capital matter for economic performance? An empirical investigation of tribal agriculture in New Caledonia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:126:y:2017:i:c:p:25-33. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kai Meng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-conservation-and-recycling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.