Plans announced by the provincial authorities for Novara in Italy to produce 18million cubic metres of aggregates between 2009 and 2018 have been criticised by environmentalists and legal commentators. The need for this volume of building materials to be produced by the region’s 41 quarries over this time period has been questioned and concerns over mafia control have also been alleged.
Nonetheless, the region’s authorities has said that the network of quarries have produced an average of over 2million cubic metres of aggregates annually over the last 10 years. The authority has also said that 17million cubic metres will be met by quarried material and the remainder will be supplied by recycled sources.
