Sustainability of Earth-Based Materials Incorporating Marble Cutting Waste

In order to respond to the needs of sustainability and circularity that permeate the debate on contemporary construction sector, it seems to be appropriate to focus on the reuse of bio, geo-based and waste materials. Among these materials, raw earth has received international attention due to its reusability, low carbon footprint and embodied energy, availability, economic competitiveness and relevance to the circular economy framework. In the last years, innovative material optimization (stabilization) techniques were used to improve raw earth’s physical, mechanical and thermal performances, by making use of by-products and production waste from other production chains. Following this trend, this contribution analyzes several alternatively stabilized rammed earth materials, using volcanic sand, natural sisal fibers and a production waste coming from the marble cutting industry. The main physical, mechanical and thermal properties of the rammed earth mixes are reported. Furthermore, the composition of the raw earth material and the design of its production line are the points of departure for the realization of a life cycle analysis of the different raw earth mixes. More in detail, the Life Cycle Analysis focuses on the effects that natural fibers and marble cutting waste can have in the reduction of carbon footprint and carbon storage, compared to more conventional rammed earth mixes.