Toward Sustainable Road Infrastructure Through Production of Nega-Resources

Abstract

The paper deals with the actual problem of achieving sustainable development, through ensuring the sustainability of certain sectors of the national economy, in particular the road sector. The concept of “sustainable development” has been revealed and the steps to achieve it in the Republic of Belarus today have been assessed. In addition, an attempt has been made to substantiate the impact of the sustainability of the road sector, as an integral and connecting part of economic entities on the sustainable development of countries and regions. The influence of the road sector on the elements of sustainable development is considered and its further prospects are assessed. For this, it is proposed to consider the impact of road construction at various structural levels: mega-, meso-, macro- and micro-level, which affect all aspects of the road economy, such as design, construction, maintenance and repair, production of building materials and products. The possibility of implementing the concept of nega-resources in the road sector is considered. Nega-resources are understood as such potential resources that are formed as a result of improving the processes of handling the final product by rationalizing its consumption, as well as with initial resources by optimizing individual stages of the production and logistics cycles. A market for nega-resources could be created following the example of the existing market for emissions allowances under the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement. The road sector today has many promising technologies, the use of which generates a larger amount of nega-resources. So taking into account nega-resources in the life cycle of transport facilities, as well as creating a system of material incentives based on nega-resources, will ensure the sustainability of road construction, and at the same time the sustainable development of the country and the region as a whole.