Review of environmental aspects and waste management of stone cutting and fabrication industries

Abstract

Iran is the second largest stockholder of construction stones with 10 % of world production ;and there are more than 4000 stone cutting and fabrication industries (SCFIs). In the processing of raw stones, a considerable part of stone is turned into waste. Generated wastes include excess parts of different stones and sludge. The present paper reviews the state of SCFIs waste management using multiple data sources including site, analysis of effluent and sludge samples, and conducting interviews with people who are involved in 286 SCFIs in Qom and Tabriz. The results revealed that currently almost 35 to 52.5 % of raw stones were converted to solid wastes depending on stone cutting and processing methods, type of stones and their quality, which seemed a high percentage. Also, the effluents between 0.8 and 2.8 m(3) were generated per ton of processed stone. Based on the analysis of heavy metals with atomic absorption spectroscopy, sludge samples contained a considerable amount of Pb, Cu, Cr, and Cd. It was also found that the lack of specific recycling, reuse and disposal programs and suitable supervision has led to uncontrolled disposal of stone wastes and sludge in different areas. However, there are good opportunities for reuse and recycling of the SCFIs wastes.