on recycling or setting unre- A lot of pressure came alistic targets for public Quarriers from the Greens in Parlia- TalkBac authorities to achieve. ment and by working togeth- Mr Finnie also conve- er we managed to see it off. It niently ignores the prob- welcome should be a celebration of k lems caused by transporting how bodies such as the BAA, subsidised recycled aggre- CB1, Coalpro, MAUK, BCC, Richard Bird, executive offi- gates long distances directive EEA and the QPA have through rural areas simply worked with the ODPM and cer of the British to meet targets. DTI to effect positive Aggregates Association It did occur to me that if success change," he told MQR. (BAA), responds to last Mr Finnie and his col- Simon van der Byl, the issue's Snapshot from Ross leagues in the Scottish Par- QPA's director general, said After seven or eight years the industry could breath a Finnie, the Scottish environ- liament had used more recycled aggregates in the .of battling by industry sigh of relief: "Had our ment minister, on new Parliament building, bodies and government efforts not paid off, the direc- Scotland's recycled materi- then not only might it have departments, the European tive in its original form would als consultation. cost the nation less to build, Parliament and Council have have classed Britain's quar- but his latest plans to use finalised the Mining Waste ries in the same bracket as more recycled materials in Directive leaving out over- uranium mines, which is public projects might sound burden and topsoil so it will clearly absurd." a bit more credible. not be classified as waste in Changes made include I think Mr Finnie would need of permits. inert waste and unpolluted be well advised to spend soil being exempted from less time talking about recy- permits, public participation, cled aggregates, which are after-closure procedure, and no longer an issue, and financial guarantee, and more time getting the envi-^ rehabilitation of abandoned ronment officials of his mine sites being left in the Executive to deal with actu- hands of member states. al problems. Also, the thresholds for An obvious example is the classification of a waste recovered fuel oil. Unlike facility as Category A (large other EU environment and dangerous waste storage I read with interest Ross agencies, SEPA and the EA sites) will be maintained at a Finnie's comments in the have decided to class RFO practical level. Most aggre- Sept/Oct edition nfMQK on as a waste and that its use as gate sites in the UK do not the proposed targets of 10% an alternative fuel in asphalt fall within this category. of recycled materials being plants will be prohibited by used in public projects the end of 2005. Not only throughout Scotland. will this put another A25mil- As one who lives in Scot- Peter Huxtable of the BAA. lion onto the cost of resur- land and who is closely con- facing the nation's roads, Earlier drafts of the direc- nected with the aggregates but it will create an environ- tive would have imposed a industry, I fail to understand mental time bomb with the disproportionate burden on why politicians like Mr disposal or illegal dumping non-hazardous inert quarry Finnie feel they have to of some 400,000tonnes per wastes, which would have keep pushing the case for annum of waste oil. led to the need for new the use of recycled aggre- The British environmen- waste management licenses gates. tal agencies have refused to and monitoring for material Since the introduction recognise this problem. Per- such as overburden. of tracked crushers, the haps it will take the pollu- Peter Huxtable, secretary Landfill Tax in 1996 and the tion by waste oil of a few of the British Aggregates Aggregate levy in 2002, the Scottish salmon rivers to Association (BAA) said it was market has changed and make Mr Finnie and his offi- a triumph for the industry, its there is plenty of evidence cials pay a bit more atten- associated bodies and gov- that almost all the aggre- tion to, what is actually ernment working together to gates that can be recycled going on in the real world. overturn an unfair piece of are already being recycled, legislation. particularly in urban areas. What's your view? However, new potential If you have a view you want wastes in the form of pri- to express in TalkBack on mary by-products, namely any of the issues published crushed rock fines and the in MQR then contact us like, are being produced using the details at the top and stockpiled as a result of of the page. the increasing demand for high specification aggre- gates. The Government's policy needs to be revised in the light of these changes and a new policy based on sustainability and a more holistic approach to aggre- gate use developed, rather than a simplistic emphasis