Aggregates levy funding to reduce impact of quarrying

Defra is providing £29.3 million from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) to address the impacts that quarrying has on the environment and nearby communities.


The money will go toward such goals as reducing demand for new aggregates, reducing the impact of lorries and assessing marine extraction to reduce the need for quarrying in National Parks and elsewhere.

The funding follows a successful pilot in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Somerset and has now opened to 14 more counties with the highest amounts of aggregate extraction.

“This funding will provide a wide range of benefits, from increasing the amount of construction and demolition waste that is recycled to improving our knowledge of the marine environment and restoring derelict quarries,” said Environment Minister Elliot Morley.

The ALSF has four objectives:

  • to remove market barriers to using recycled and secondary aggregates rather than virgin material, thus reducing need for fresh quarrying;
  • to improve the environmental performance of aggregates extraction and transport on land and in the marine environment;
  • to deal with the legacy of environmental problems associated with past extraction such as restoring derelict quarries in national parks; and
  • to compensate local communities for the impacts of aggregates extraction.

    Mr Morley added that the increased funding would benefit those communities with highest levels of extraction.

    David Hopkins

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