Lime industry calls for faster approval procedures for domestic raw material extraction

The German Lime Association (Bundesverband der Deutschen Kalkindustrie e.V., BVK) is calling for a fundamental modernization and acceleration of planning and approval procedures for domestic limestonemining. Increasing delays in permitting processes are putting investments, security of supply, and the industry’s transformation at risk.

“Germany urgently needs a genuine enabling culture for domestic raw materials,” said Martin Ogilvie, Managing Director of the German Lime Association. “Raw materials are at the beginning of all industrial value chains—limestone in particular is indispensable for construction, industry, and climate protection.”

Martin Ogilvie, Managing Director of the German Lime Association (Photo Credit: BVK)

The lime industry is currently facing the challenge of transforming its production processes to achieve climate neutrality in the coming years. This transition requires substantial investment in new technologies, which entails significant costs. Such investments are only economically viable if they can be secured over sufficiently long extraction periods. A reliable supply of raw materials over several decades—typically at least 40 years—is therefore essential to ensure planning certainty for companies and their investments.

“In practice, approval procedures for limestone extraction are often lengthy, complex, and inconsistent. The lack of binding deadlines and limited parallelization of review processes lead to significant delays and make long-term planning more difficult for companies,” Ogilvie explained. “Lime producers need a long-term extraction perspective for a successful transformation. Without sufficient approved raw material reserves, climate-neutral lime production will not be possible.”

The BVK is therefore calling for the legal recognition of raw material supply as an overriding public interest. In addition, the association advocates binding deadlines for approval procedures, including mechanisms for automatic approval, greater parallelization of administrative processes, and the modernization of water and mining legislation.

“The aim is to improve the framework conditions for domestic raw material extraction in order to facilitate investment, accelerate procedures, and strengthen long-term security of supply—as a foundation for successful industrial transformation and effective climate protection,” Ogilvie concluded.

About the German Lime Industry

The lime industry supplies the essential and versatile raw material lime, which forms the basis of numerous value chains. Lime is used in construction, environmental protection, and in the production of iron and steel, chemicals, glass, plastics, hygiene products, paper, as well as food and beverages.

The German Lime Association (BVK) represents around 50 companies operating at more than 80 sites. Together, they employ nearly 3000 people and produce approximately 6 million tons of quicklime annually, generating a total turnover of around €1 billion (as of 2024). www.kalk.de