Managing Marble Quarry Waste: Opportunities and Challenges for Circular Economy Implementation

Abstract

Marble has been a prominent natural stone exploited since ancient times, commonly employed as a building material and ornamental stone. However, the disposal of waste generated from marble extraction, particularly fine sludge, poses significant environmental challenges for the dimensional stone industry. The difficulty in managing and recovering these materials, exacerbated by local regulations and the absence of suitable recovery protocols, often leads to landfilling. This issue is exemplified by the Carrara Marble Basin in the Apuan Alps (Tuscany, Italy), where more than half of the extracted marble remains as quarry waste or debris. Modern cutting technologies have intensified the production of finer materials and sawing residue, known as “marmettola”, ranging in size from fine sand to silt. The disposal of these materials, commonly through landfilling or abandonment, has profound environmental repercussions. This research primarily aimed to carry out a preliminary physical, mineralogical, and morphological characterization of the fine waste and sludges generated from Carrara Marble exploitation. The findings reveal the high granulometric uniformity of the materials, and a nearly pure carbonate composition, suggesting potential for reuse in various industrial sectors such as paper, plastics, and pharmaceuticals production.