Technology and productive process: mining rejections from waste to sustainable resource

The essay suggests a new interpretation on the topic of the relationship between landscape and places of extraction, through the declination of re-cycling as an approach at different scales, to define strategies and methodological activities, which allows to update and innovate the principles upon which is based the relationship between exploitation, transformation and disposal of the quarries. The essay focuses on the problem of recycling, reusing and reducing the wastes and the quarries rejections in a place located in the northern part of Apulia Region (Italy) called “Apricena Mining Area”, the second biggest Italian stone mining’s area. The case of Apulia represents a significant field of investigation, considering at least for two issues: the role assumed by the activity of stone extraction in the regional economy, although nowadays is not implemented by activities of transformation of the matter in loco; also for the dimensional relevance of the quarries landscape, mainly connected to private interests, and for the activities, and resulting environmental implications. Although the mining rejections are often being used even if in a secondary importance way, it doesn’t exist actually a praxis that could guarantee a systematical (re) use of the wastes, nor a real and a generalized interest in using them as building material or for architecture and design. Therefore, there is the necessity, according to the environmental sustainability expectations, of reducing the quantity of mining rejections before they become wastes and, at the same time, of transforming the wastes into a resource for the landscape. In this perspective, the role of technology is fundamental not to give solutions but to help to find plausible strategies for the reconstruction of the relationship between mining activity, constructive building solutions and environmental requirements with a sustainable approach.