Maintenance of roads and motorways
Maintenance of streets, roads and motorways, other vehicular and pedestrian ways, surface work on streets, roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, aerodrome runways, taxiways and aprons, defined as all actions undertaken to maintain and restore the serviceability(122) and level of service of roads(123). For bridges and tunnels, the economic activity only includes the maintenance of the road that runs on the bridge or through the tunnel. It does not include the maintenance of the bridge or tunnel itself.
The economic activity includes routine maintenance, which can be scheduled on a periodical basis. The economic activity also includes preventive maintenance and rehabilitation which are defined as works undertaken to preserve or restore serviceability and to extend the service life(124) of an existing road. The maintenance operation is mainly dedicated to pavement management and concerns only the following main elements of the road: binder course, surface course and concrete slabs. The roads in the scope of this economic activity are made of asphalt, concrete or a combination of the two.
The economic activities in this category could be associated with NACE code F42.11 in accordance with the statistical classification of economic activities established by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006.
Substantial contribution
This activity can make a substantial contribution to the following objective(s). The activity must also pass DNSH assessment against the remaining five objectives.
✓ Circular economy
1. Where main road elements (binder course, surface course or concrete slabs) are demolished or removed, the preparing for re-use(125) or recycling(126) of the non-hazardous waste generated onsite is 100% (by mass in kilogrammes), excluding backfilling(127). This excludes naturally occurring material referred to in category 17 05 04 in the European List of Waste established by Commission Decision 2000/532/EC.2. Where the road elements (binder course, surface course and concrete slabs) are newly installed after demolition or removal, including any roads which are built on a temporary basis for the purpose of carrying out the maintenance works, at least 50% (by mass in kilogrammes) of the structural road elements used are re-used or recycled materials or non-hazardous industrial by-products.3. The re-used or recycled materials are not moved over distances greater than 2.5 times the distance between the construction site and the nearest production facility for equivalent primary raw materials, to avoid that the use of re-used or recycled materials leads to higher CO2 emissions than the use of primary raw materials. 4. Where newly installed, the binder course has a service lifetime no shorter than 20 years(128). 5. The use of primary raw material for road furniture is minimised through the use of secondary raw materials(129). The operator of the activity ensures that for metals, such as steel restraint systems, a maximum of 30% of the material come from primary raw material. The threshold is calculated by subtracting the secondary raw material from the total amount of each material category used in the works measured by mass in kilogrammes. Where the information on the recycled content of the construction product is not available, it is to be counted as comprising 100% primary raw material. In order to respect the Waste Hierarchy and thereby favour re-use over recycling, re-used construction products, including those containing non-waste materials reprocessed on site, are to be counted as comprising zero primary raw material.
Do No Significant Harm criteria
To be taxonomy-aligned, this activity must not significantly harm any of the five objectives it does not substantially contribute to.
Climate change mitigation
A traffic congestion mitigation plan to be implemented during the maintenance works is presented.
Documentation typically required
- Traffic congestion mitigation plan — Plan to be implemented during maintenance works
Climate change adaptation
The activity complies with the criteria set out in Appendix A of the applicable Delegated Act.
Water and marine resources
The activity complies with the criteria set out in Appendix B of the applicable Delegated Act.
Pollution prevention and control
Measures are taken to reduce noise, vibrations, dust and pollutant emissions during construction or maintenance works. When choosing road surface types, low noise road surfaces are preferred, in accordance with the comprehensive criterion B7 ‘minimum requirements for low-noise pavement design’ of the EU Green Public Procurement Criteria for Road Design, Construction and Maintenance(130), and considering low-noise road surfaces a priority for all roads under the scope of Directive 2002/49/EC.
Biodiversity and ecosystems
The activity complies with the criteria set out in Appendix D of the applicable Delegated Act.
Criteria sourced from the EU Taxonomy Navigator. Applicable act: Climate Delegated Act (OJ L 442, 9.12.2021). Last verified: 19 July 2026.
Related reading: EU Taxonomy explained · Evidence sustainability auditors look for
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