Europe's top performing sustainable aggregates companies gathered in Munich in May for the presentation of the UEPG Sustainable Development Awards
Sustainable development strategies are an essential part of modern business in the quarrying industry but some companies still perform better than others. The
On 27 May this year, the UEPG's independent jury bestowed 13 awards and UEPG itself awarded 17 certificates of excellence to companies that showed outstanding contributions to sustainable development over the last two years. The successful operations were presented with their accolades during an event in Munich, Germany.
According to the UEPG, the bi-annual awards provide a central communication instrument and the possibility to raise awareness on the complexity of economic, environmental, social and diversity interaction among businesses and relevant stakeholders. It also provides the means to present the activities of the European aggregates industry to a broader public. Finally, the award scheme aims at emphasising the necessity of secure and sustainable access to raw materials, as well as an efficient management of resources in Europe.
The independent jury for the 2010 awards consisted of distinguished experts in the fields of biodiversity, conservation, health and safety and mining engineering from around Europe. During the ceremony, the judges commented on the outstanding characteristics of the winning projects and presented the company representatives with the plaques.
The jury was chaired by Jean-Claude Lefeuvre, Emeritus Professor at the National Natural History Museum in Paris. "I was truly impressed by the many high quality biodiversity entries, in fact we had a challenge in choosing the award winners," he said. "Each entry represented huge dedication in sensitively and caringly creating habitats. Several boasted hundreds of biodiversity species, many of these being red-listed, particularly bird species which thrive in wetland areas. The aggregates industry contributes hugely to biodiversity in Europe: I urge it to continue and grow that all-important work." International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) regional business and biodiversity officer Shulamit Alony added, "UEPG has been one of IUCN's Countdown 2010 initiatives most committed partners since 2007. The entries in this year's Sustainable Development Awards are shining examples of strong dedication to biodiversity in many companies and countries across Europe. Furthermore, the many entries under the categories of restoration and environmental best practice embody excellent examples of biodiversity conservation in the broader context of state-of-the-art environmental stewardship." Jukka Takala, director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in Bilbao also said, "I was highly impressed by the uniquely innovative approaches to fostering health and safety in this year's awards. These were all highly commendable, going far beyond the traditional safety imperatives, by exploring new avenues based on employee stress management, designing safety into machinery during manufacture, and in motivating better site safety through charity donations based on success."
According to the UEPG, this year the jury members commonly agreed to also bestowed small companies and creative projects with awards. One such project was described by the jury as a "stunning example of palaeontology at the Rivecourt pit in France from the Paleocene/Eocene period". The project to use restored areas of the sand and gravel pit at Alrewas (Trent Valley) in UK as the National Memorial Arboretum was also selected for this special honour.
To find out more on the 30 entries, jury members' awards preparation and an introduction by the commissioner Janez Poto?nik and UEPG president Jim O'Brien.
