establishing sustainable development indicators for integrated raw material and nature conservation management
In August 2005, the HTC started a pilot project in co-operation with the German Association of the Cement Industry (BDZ) and other institutions to develop and test sustainable development indicators under the umbrella of the “Initiative for Sustainability” in the German cement industry.
The project aims to optimise the balance between the quarrying of raw materials and nature conservation. Indicators for measuring biodiversity qualitatively and quantitatively are being developed and tested in order to make the conservation value of quarrying sites and the effects of nature conservation measures both measurable and predictable before, during and after quarrying. The indicators are tailored to the specific circumstances and potential of quarrying sites in order to fulfil the demands of business practices and nature conservation in equal measure, and form part of a monitoring programme that can be carried out during quarrying.
Until now, there have been no suitable and, most importantly, generally accepted instruments for measuring the conservation value of quarrying sites in a comprehensible way: while initial steps have been taken and practical experience has been gained (e.g. in Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland) in shaping nature conservation measures by means of land management agreements and eco-accounts, Sustainable Development Indicators (SDIs) are being developed at European level, for example. The indicators discussed within this framework, however, only fulfil the specific requirements in the cement industry’s quarrying sites to a limited extent – this could even lead to backward steps being taken in relation to nature conservation concepts that have already been developed for implementation during quarrying.
The trial project is to be carried out in the quarry of the Schelklingen cement plant of HeidelbergCement AG; findings are already available for this quarrying site and can be used as reference values to test the indicators. The knowledge acquired from developing and testing the indicators will also be assessed for transferability to other locations in the cement industry and other stone and earth industries. This will then also be used as a basis, as far as possible, to derive information on further developing eco-accounts for the extraction of raw materials.
The project is sponsored by: the HeidelbergCement Technology Center GmbH (HTC), the German Association of the Cement Industry (BDZ), AG.L.N. Landschaftsplanung und Naturschutzmanagement, the BMBF/DLR (German Federal Ministry for Education and Research, project reference number 01 LM 0401, German Aeronautics) and the Socio-political Working Group for the German Cement Industry (Sozialpolitische Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Deutschen Zementindustrie (SPADZ)).
The project is being carried out under the umbrella of the “Initiative for Sustainability” in the German cement industry, in which the German Cement Works Association (Verein Deutscher Zementwerke) and the Trade Unions for Building-Agriculture-Environment (IG BAU) and Mining, Chemical, Energy (IG BCE) are involved, along with the BDZ and SPADZ. The operational project work is being carried out by HTC, AG.L.N., BDZ and, as the project sponsors’ external contractor, SUSTAIN CONSULT – Consulting company for sustainable economic development (Beratungsgesellschaft für nachhaltige Wirtschaftsentwicklung mbH).
For any questions regarding the pilot project in Schelklingen, please contact Dr. Michael Rademacher (E-Mail:
michael.rademacher@heidelbergcement.com).