📋 Tender Overview
In Europe, approximately 32 Mton of ornamental stones are extracted every year. Although extraction and processing methods have improved in the last decades, the circularity of the sector is still under development. In fact, approximately 50% of the extracted material becomes waste. Nowadays, enormous mountains of stone wastes are stored in facilities waiting to be disposed in landfills or recycled in applications such as embankments or refilling quarries. These wastes cause several environmental problems: GHG emissions from the transport of high volumes, respiratory problems on humans and animals by airborne particles, underground waters affected by the leachates or accidental spillages of sludge into rivers altering the ecosystem and biodiversity, etc. The main objective of LIFE ZSW project is to demonstrate the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of a solution for the recycling and valorisation of ornamental stone wastes from quarries and processing industries in order to produce raw materials and added-value products mainly for the construction and agricultural industries. Additionally, final products will be certified to be suitable for green public procurement in construction. LIFE ZSW project aims at providing a circular approach to the ornamental stone sector responsible for generating scarcely-valorised wastes through the development of a close-to-market solution. LIFE ZSW solution will be tested in 3 sites of Italy and Spain to demonstrate its functionality and versatility using different waste streams with diverse characteristics and producing several products suitable for construction or agriculture. As a result, LIFE ZSW will develop a solution that will (1) reduce the environmental impacts of a currently environmentally-unfriendly sector by minimizing transportation, disposal in landfills and the extraction of new materials; and (2) increase the economic benefits of industries by producing high-quality products for the market.
