Scarti di granito e cave dismesse per futuri scenari eco-innovativi in Sardegna

For years, scientific and cultural debate has focused on the need to adapt traditional economic models to pressing environmental emergencies. The construction sector in particular, from the extraction of raw materials through the manufacturing phase to the demolition one, has a wide range of environmental impacts. The 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction shows a post-pandemic increase of 5% in CO2 emissions and 4% in energy demand. On the other hand, the OECD predicts that global resource consumption will double by 2060 as a result of economic growth and improved quality of life in housing. This will have a further impact on the climate and environmental changes that are already affecting our planet. Therefore, the valorisation of secondary raw materials is an opportunity to address both the depletion of natural resources and the alteration of the landscape and local environment, including the reduction of waste and possible eco-innovations in products and processes. Fifteen researchers from the University of Sassari are carrying out a research and development project, funded by the Ministry of Economic Development, on possible valorisation strategies for granite waste and abandoned quarries in north-eastern Sardinia (one of the largest mining basins in Italy). The valorisation of the large quantities of granite waste abandoned in disused quarries is the starting point for both the landscape and environmental regeneration and the creation of new green jobs; the numerous quarries become potential territorial centres of historical, sociocultural and economic value. Here are the first findings and future research activities of the research project, which will end in December 2023.