European Standards for Aggregates (2004)

The 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of 2004 to ensure that the new systems were fully integrated by 1st June 2004 when the existing British Standards were withdrawn.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 2004 Standards' requirements are that the supply chain has started to communicate in a different way. This included understanding and adopting different 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 are kept updated with the most recent Standards.

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 2004 European Standards for aggregates are:

*Additional requirements for constituents of BITUMINOUS MIXTURES are included within the BS EN 13108 "Bituminous mixtures" series (Parts 1 to 8).

**Additional requirements for UNBOUND MIXTURES are incorporated into BS EN 13285 "Unbound mixtures - specifications"

These 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 has contributed to boost the market share of these sustainable materials.

Copies of the 2004 Standards can be ordered from the British Standards Institution website.

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

The 2004 standards are currently under review with updated versions to be published from 2008 onwards.

The British Standards Institution has created dedicated National Guidance Documents (Published Document PD 6682 Parts 1 to 9 and 6691) for the 2004 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.
Copies of the National Guidance Document can be ordered from the British Standards Institution website.

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

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

Although there might have been an initial degree of confusion associated with the introduction of new ways of working, WRAP's view is that the 2004 standards have had a positive influence, resulting in further growth in the use of sustainable aggregates in the construction industry.