A Novel Approach for the Reuse of Waste from the Extractive and Processing Industry of Natural Stone Binders: Development of Stone Composites

Abstract

This paper discusses the historical use of natural stone for various purposes and highlights the substantial waste generated by quarries and stone processing plants in modern industrialized production. These waste materials are typically categorized into unused rock and sludges from processing. This accumulation of waste presents a global environmental challenge and a financial burden for the stone industry. In-depth investigation into the development of a binder incorporating carbonated sludge from marble and limestone industries, combined with polyester resin, for building stone composites was performed. This research involved chemical and microstructural characterization of the sludges, preparation of mixtures with polyester resin, stone composites manufacturing, and subsequent testing to determine and validate the optimal binder composition. Given the achieved results, and the demonstrated feasibility of using a binder composed of polyester resin and carbonated sludge for stone composite production, it was concluded that employing carbonated sludge as an economic resource is indeed viable.