A new research report by the Waste & Resources Action Programme finds that demand for aggregate in Scotland is forecast to grow by an average of 1.17 percent a year until 2018 with recycled and secondary aggregates taking a 20 percent market share by 2012.

The Sustainable Use of Resources for the Production of Aggregates in Scotland study has been created to produce an economic model that helps determine the effect of different influences on the most sustainable resourcing of aggregates in Scotland. It also projects the potential of this supply relative to construction demand, market price and resource availability.

"This report forecasts further growth in the use of recycled and secondary aggregates, especially in higher value applications such as the production of asphalt and concrete," says John Barritt, WRAP’s technical advisor. "It’s an important aspect of promoting more sustainable construction methods that the use of recycled and secondary aggregates is optimized across all aggregate applications. The forecast that sustainable aggregates are expected to achieve a 20 percent market share by 2012 is therefore particularly encouraging."

The report provides a better understanding of the construction aggregate market in Scotland. The report includes sensitivity for price changes for aggregates and other economic influences, as well as the range, quantity and relative market shares of the different types of aggregates supplied.

Despite the fact that the future availability of more sustainable aggregates is, to a certain extent, governed by construction and demolition activity, researchers found that by 2018, recycled aggregate for asphalt applications is expected to have achieved a 15 percent market share, compared to just 5 percent in 2003. Conversely, the demand for primary aggregates in asphalt is expected to decrease by 10 percent over the same period. Another key growth area is the provision of recycled coarse aggregates for concrete applications, which is expected to increase from a 3 percent market share in 2003 to a 13 percent market share in 2018.