Polymer concrete from marble wastes and recycled PET

The mining and extensive processing operations of marble produce huge quantities of wastes. It is reported that, around 70% of this precious mineral resource is wasted in the mining, processing, and polishing procedures. In the same concept, large amounts of waste polymers are generated from industrial, agricultural and house hold activities every year. It has been estimated that, the plastic wastes constitute more than 12% of municipal solid waste streams. Due to the environmental restrictions and limited disposal sites all over the world, the management of wastes is a responsibility of the developed and developing countries as well. It is difficult to quantify the global environmental gains from remediating the wastes. Thus, new approaches that consider industrial wastes as alternative raw materials become interesting, both technically and economically, for a wide range of applications. Worldwide, there has been an increased interest in resource recovery, recycling and resource conservation as key parameters for any sustainable development plans. By reusing two waste resources ¿ end of life post-customer PET and fine secondary aggregate from the quarrying industry- a new materi