New European Standards for Aggregates

1st June 2004 marked the introduction of an important piece of EU regulation for the UK aggregates industry, in the form of new European Standards for aggregates.

The majority of aggregates suppliers and the Highways Agency started adopting these new European Standards for aggregates from the beginning of 2004 to ensure that the new systems were fully integrated by 1st June 2004 when the existing British Standards were withdrawn.

The implications of meeting the new Standards' requirements means that the supply chain will need to communicate in a different way. This includes understanding and adopting a new grading classification, a category system to describe performance, a new set of sieve sizes and some tests new to the UK.

A key difference is that the standards are for 'aggregates from natural, recycled and manufactured materials', focusing on fitness for purpose and not discriminating between different resources.

All Technical Notes and Purchase Order details on AggRegain have been updated for the new Standards.

The impact of the changes

As the European Standards apply to all aggregates produced across Europe, they have been created to be flexible enough to allow for the specification of a wide range of aggregates with a number of properties. The new European Standards for aggregates are:

These new standards make use of the category system to describe aggregate properties, with each category indicating the level of an aggregate property. Therefore, it is these categories that will be used to specify aggregates and to demonstrate aggregates are fit for purpose.

The European Standards facilitate the use of larger amounts of recycled and secondary aggregates across a broad range of applications, including higher value uses, which is sure to boost the market share of these sustainable materials.

BSI National Guidance Documents

The British Standards Institution has created a dedicated National Guidance Document for each of the new European Standards. These recommend ranges and limiting values of categories for UK use. They also provide information for most general uses of aggregates in the UK and make additional requirements and recommendations for particular end uses.

Effect of EN codes on Sustainable Aggregates

Allowing the use of more recycled and secondary aggregates in a wider range of applications will have positive implications for sustainability, which WRAP are active in promoting.

The requirement, within the standards, for Factory Production Control, for example, will help producers of recycled and secondary aggregates to demonstrate the quality of their products. The application of CE marking will benchmark standards and will give aggregate users the confidence that recycled and secondary materials are of the required quality and equivalent to primary, or natural, materials.

Although there may be an initial degree of confusion associated with the introduction of new ways of working, WRAP's view is that the new standards will have a positive influence resulting in further growth in the use of sustainable aggregates in the construction industry.

Copies of the new Standards and National Guidance Documents can be ordered from British Standards Institute British Standards Institute website using the 'Search Standards Catalogue' facility.

For more information on the European Standards visit the Quarry Products Association Website.