A note on material flows of construction aggregates in Taiwan

Recent decades have witnessed accelerated growth in the demand for construc tion aggregates in Taiwan. The ecological pressures caused by riverbed mini ng of aggregates have resulted in shortages in domestic supply. Simultaneou sly, Taiwan must contend with the accumulated generation of construction wa stes. Industrial ecology offers solutions that recover resources from const ruction wastes. For example, in areas of high-density urban construction, t he use of crushed concrete can be economically attractive. To investigate e nvironmentally sound and economically feasible solutions for satisfying fut ure demand, researchers at National Taiwan University and Columbia Universi ty propose a study of the long-range consequences of utilizing domestic sup ply sources including construction waste. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.