Recycling of thermally treated cement-asbestos for the production of porcelain stoneware slabs

From hazardous asbestos containing wastes (ACW) to new secondary raw material through a new sustainable inertization process: A multimethodological mineralogical study

“…Adopting environmentally sustainable green technologies for the management of solid waste would reduce these problems. Most notably, the traditional concept of waste regarded as pollution is progressively moving towards the new perspective of a waste regarded as resource (e.g., J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f Gualtieri et al 2011De Carvalho Gomes et al 2019;Ligabue et al 2020;Tang et al 2020Zhang et al 2020.…”

“…To date, the recycling of deactivated ACW as SRM has been largely exploited in several different fields, in particular for the production of clay bricks, glass, glass-ceramics, ceramic frits, ceramic pigments, cement products, geopolymers (e.g. Gualtieri et al 2008Gualtieri et al , 2011Yvon and Sharrock, 2011;Kusiorowski et al 2016;Ligabue et al 2020). Comparatively fewer studies exist for applications in the plastic and rubber sectors.…”

Management of Asbestos Containing Materials: A Detailed LCA Comparison of Different Scenarios Comprising First Time Asbestos Characterization Factor Proposal

“…The two different scenarios considered were (i) the thermal inertisation treatment of ACW employing an industrial continuous furnace, as recently patented by some of the present authors, 33 leading to an inert material considered a secondary raw material for the production of porcelain stoneware slabs, 34 and (ii) what is actually provided by Italian legislation, that is, ACW disposal in a controlled landfill for hazardous waste.…”

“…Particularly, the thermal inertisation treatment of 150 ton of ACW allowed the obtainment of 112.5 ton of KRY•AS inert material. Although the use of KRY•AS in the production of porcelain stoneware slabs was demonstrated, 34 the absence of dedicated regulations for these secondary raw materials makes them still lacking an own market, so that a mass allocation criterion was applied. Particularly, the human and ecotoxicity impacts calculated were allocated for the 57.14% to the thermal inertisation of 150 ton of ACW and for the 42.86% to the KRY•AS material obtained.…”

“…The inert material obtained by the thermal inertisation treatment was considered a coproduct of the process, thus a secondary raw material, usable in the production of porcelain stoneware slabs, as recently demonstrated. 34 A further comparison was made with the scenario characterized by the lack of any ACMs removal actions, in order to highlight the necessity and urgency of intervention, mainly from the human toxicity perspective.…”