2.04 STONE – SusTainable ecOdesign reusiNg quarring wastE 

Natural stone’s industry has gone progressively widening, assuming a strategic role in worldwide economy. In 2015, the production was about 82.6 million tons with a percentage of the waste extraction and processing amounting to over 70% of the gross quantity. In the European Union, the Italian pre-eminence, as fifth leading stone country, was consolidated with over 30% of volume. The increased production of natural stone waste, as well as its impact on the environment, has boosted academic and industrial research on waste minimization. Nonetheless, a great scientific interest has also been addressed to recovery and recycling of stone slurry from quarrying activities and processing plants, particularly as fine aggregate for a broad range of low-CO2 cement-based materials or compounding with resins based on possibly biobased/recycled/biodegradable polymeric matrices or their blends.

Apropos, the STONE project aims at promoting the sustainable use of stone slurry from local quarrying and manufacturing activities – e.g. areas where «Perlato di Sicilia» (Sicily), “Pietra Lavica dell’Etna” (Sicily), «Pietra di Apricena» (Apulia) and «Marmo di Carrara» (Tuscany) are quarried -, in order to achieve:

• Process optimization by circular management that might reduce the environmental impacts from waste disposal and exploitation of raw materials at the geocluster scale
• Made in Italy product innovation by high quality and cutting-edge advanced/eco materials (also reusing stone waste through biomineralization processes) and components (e.g. objects, tiles, boards and panels) for indoor/outdoor living spaces and temporary housing solutions
• Technological transition by digital methods (e.g., additive manufacturing) for modular, scalable, versatile and controlled production, also in view of end-life disassembly and reuse

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

Management:

• Technical monitoring and reporting
• Financial monitoring and reporting

Baseline:

• Analysis of scientific, technical, normative and patenting state-of-the art on reuse of stone-based products and by-products
• Identification of current waste materials and treatments from stone quarrying and manufacturing in the reference geoclusters

Design:

• Characterization of mechanical, chemical and physical properties of stone waste for identification of performance-based transformation and recycle scenarios
• Functional design of components, products, material formulations and systems employing stone quarrying and manufacturing waste for indoor/outdoor living spaces and temporary housing solutions, in order to extend stone waste lifetime, minimizing their energy and CO2 footprint Identification of data-driven digital manufacturing technologies and pipelines to enhance flexible standardization and quality control
• Identification of multi-scale/multi-domain impact performance indicators and impact assessment methods in life-cycle analysis

Experimentation and validation:

• Definition and application of an assessment protocol for experimentation of the reliability, durability and life-cycle sustainability of selected solutions
• Validation of advanced design solutions and identification of relevant Made in Italy industries for their exploitation
• Definition of a harmonized framework of processes, technologies, and tools toward the development of circular and sustainable supply chains for multiple application domains and geoclusters
• Design of promotion and education activities to raise awareness on circular stone management

Dissemination:

• Contributions in scientific journals and conferences
• Social media, web communications, industry-relevant events, exhibitions