1. Regulatory barriers for the circular economy
Case study: Recycling of aggregates into new building materials
Author/presenter: Kathrin Enenkel, Joost van Barneveld, Technopolis group

2. Sorting, breaking, straining
Overview
Gravel extraction
Sorting, breaking, straining
Recycled product
Concrete factory
Civil engineering
Demolition
Joost (Technopolis) will finalise schemes in more professional style if he receives them by Friday noon (11 March)
Buildings
Conventional stream
Circular stream
Regulatory barrier
Competition point

3. Regulatory barrier
Environmental characteristics (e.g. the authorized share of sulphates in the aggregates) do not exist in norm EN 12620
It only defines technical characteristics for aggregates such as chemical, geometrical or physical requirements
Diverging member state standards arise

4. Effects of regulatory barrier
Economic effects: Lacking definition causes diverging national implementations which hinders intra-EU trade.
Companies producing the secondary aggregates need authority approval which is costly, takes time and decreases trust.
Environmental effects: Secondary material is often used in civil engineering. The alternative of landfilling creates unnecessary environmental burdens
Increased transports in border regions of heavy and voluminous materials

5. Observations on removal of regulatory barrier
The Commission is aware of the missing environmental parameters in the norm EN12620.
Established a committee to develop common test methods and environmental classes for ecological characteristics of aggregates to be used in buildings.
The largest barrier –Diverging national environmental parameters - cannot be resolved, as this is not a competence of the European Commission.
Option: Establish environmental classes/categories that recognise country-specific requirements with regard to environmental parameters. As a consequence, intra-MS trade would only require transcoding instead of re-certification.