Aggregates, essential materials for our daily lives

On the occasion of a new awareness campaign, the National Union of Aggregate Producers (UNPG), a member of the National Union of Quarrying and Construction Materials Industries (UNICEM), wishes to recall their central role in regional planning and the multiple uses to which they contribute.

Essential materials for construction and infrastructure

Aggregates are at the heart of land use planning.

For Olivier Viano, Secretary General of the UNPG: "Derived from natural, recycled, or marine rocks, aggregates are the most consumed mineral resource in France. Essential to our daily lives, they are used in the composition of concrete, road surfacing, and numerous civil engineering structures. Without them, there would be no housing, hospitals, schools, bridges, roads, or cycle paths. Nor would there be any urban development, public furniture, or sports fields."

Varied applications for sustainable solutions

Beyond construction, aggregates play a little-known but essential role in areas as varied as:

• Water management: filters in treatment plants, soil drainage, rainwater retention facilities.
• Ecosystem restoration: preservation of biodiversity (reefs, wastelands), protection of coastlines (beach replenishment), sustainable soil management (banks, reconstituted soils).

A local resource serving the territories

Aggregates are extracted, processed, and recycled as close as possible to where they are needed, reducing transportation costs and promoting local employment. Each year, more than 400 million tons are needed in France to meet local needs.

For Olivier Viano: "In France, 27% of aggregate needs are currently covered by recycled aggregates, derived from the reuse of deconstruction materials. This is a virtuous approach that fully contributes to the development of a circular economy for construction materials."

Responsible career management

Aggregates are produced in quarries that are operated sustainably, governed by strict regulations and voluntary industry initiatives. From the outset, sites are designed to minimize environmental impacts, preserve water resources, reduce emissions, and promote harmonious coexistence with local residents.

The exploited land is redeveloped to accommodate agricultural, natural or recreational uses, in consultation with local authorities.

Quarries also provide many useful services to society. For example, they house solar panels, preserve water resources, support cultural projects, and promote biodiversity.

Inform and raise awareness to better understand

In a context of strong societal expectations around the preservation of resources and the living environment, the UNPG is strengthening its information actions with prescribers, elected officials and the general public, in order to better raise awareness of the uses, challenges and commitments of aggregate producers.

For Alain Plantier, president of UNICEM: "Aggregates are the foundation of any development project. Promoting them means, above all, making their usefulness better understood by as many people as possible, while also highlighting their local roots and the industry's ongoing efforts to produce them responsibly."