The Hauptverband der Deutschen Bauindustrie (HDB) and the Bundesverband Baustoffe - Steine und Erden (bbs) call for reducing dependence on raw material imports and strengthening domestic raw material production in their joint position paper "Ensuring security of supply of raw materials, building materials and energy - further increasing resource efficiency". The associations fear that without affordable energy and an effective streamlining of planning and approval procedures, Germany faces an increasing shortage of mineral raw materials.
"We haven't given enough thought to supply dependencies in recent years. This is now taking its toll," says HDB Managing Director Tim-Oliver Müller. There will probably be enough raw materials for the coming decades. However, the extraction of raw materials often fails in practice due to high regulatory hurdles and lengthy, delayed approval procedures. bbs Managing Director Dr. Matthias Frederichs goes one step further. He believes that there will be no affordable construction without domestic raw materials.
The associations are also calling for new approaches to be taken and, for example, for so-called secondary raw materials, which are considered waste from production processes, to be permitted in public tenders. They also believe that planning and approval procedures need to be accelerated. Interested parties can download the full position paper free of charge at bauindustrie.de and baustoffindustrie.de.
Source and further information: bauindustrie.de
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