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.