UTILIZATION OF GRANITE AND MARBLE SAWING POWDER WASTES AS BRICK MATERIALS

The main objective of waste management system is to maximize economic benefits and at the same time protection of the environment. Granite and marble process industry generates a large amount of wastes mainly in the form of powder during sawing and polishing processes, which pollute and damage the environment. Therefore, this work aims to characterize and evaluate the possibilities of using the granite and marble sawing wastes, generated by the process industries from Salem District, Tamilnadu state, India, as alternative raw materials in the production of bricks. Samples of clay material and fired industrial bricks were collected from nearby District namely Namakkal, India. Their characterization was carried out with the determination of chemical composition, mineralogical and petrological analysis, particle size, plasticity, FTIR, and Mossbauer measurements. Secondly, technological tests were conducted on wastes incorporated brick specimens in order to evaluate the suitability of addition of wastes in the production of bricks. The results showed that granite and marble wastes can be added up to 50 wt. % into the raw clay material in the production of bricks.