European context

European economic and social models are facing consequences of the global economic downturn.

Now it is the time to look ahead and position our industry to play an important role in a global competitive market. Following Europe 2020 strategy and the White Paper on Transport, Road Authorities demand new technologies and systems to provide more affordable, durable, safer, greener and efficient roads. The EU28 comprises more than 5.000.000 kms of paved roads and it should be noted that a high percentage of EU structural funds for 2014-2020 are allocated to road maintenance and rehabilitation works. DURABROADS aims at providing economic growth by promoting a more durable and competitive construction and rehabilitation of road infrastructure.

The consortium will ensure that DURABROADS techniques and materials will respect EU environment protection policies. In this sense, it is important to stress the flagship initiative “A resource-efficient Europe” under the Europe 2020 Strategy which encourages the achievement of a sustainable growth by increasing the efficiency of our resources.  The Project is also expected to make a valuable contribution to achieve the European environmental objectives by helping to:

  • Build a more competitive low-carbon economy that makes efficient, sustainable use of resources.
  • Protect the environment and reduce emissions.
  • Capitalise on Europe’s leadership in developing new green technologies and production methods.

In the same line, DURABROADS will contribute to tackle the enormous challenge of waste management which has dramatically increased during last decades. Waste prevention and recycling will be one of the priorities for the consortium. DURABROADS intends to valorize wastes that are currently being landfilled, meeting the requirements of the Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC. Therefore, it also guarantees the principle of the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC on respecting the priority given to re-use, recycle, recovery, and just when it is technically and economically impossible, disposal of wastes while avoiding or reducing any impact on the environment.