CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE EXTRACTIVE SECTOR

The mining and the quarry sector shares the need to enhance the by-products as one of the most effective tools to limit waste production. This has the aim of minimizing the environmental cost of raw materials upstream production chains and to support research and technological innovation, providing opportunities for growth, competitiveness and creation of added value for important sectors. The exploitation of mines, quarries and the related treatment plants produces large quantities of "tailings". The by-product can be reused for different purposes within the construction supply chain (construction of road embankments, concrete, pre-mixed products, fillers etc.) thanks to their shape, size, physical and petrographic characteristics. For this reason it is essential to enhance the use of by-products of the extractive industry according to the last European regulation and implementing the National ones. In particular, the main crucial points in extractive industry to be faced and improved applying the Circular Economy approach are: - mining/quarry tailings. - sawing sludge from ornamental stone industry. - waste water from aggregate processing. The “circular approach” in the extractive industry is possible considering by-products in zero-waste supply chains as valuable secondary raw materials since the very beginning of every operation planning. A change in this vision is needed to sustain, also by means of proper indicator, an even more efficient circular economy.