From granite to trachyte, the Region of Sardinia focuses on innovation and international markets

The regional councillor for industry indicates the path the region intends to follow to enhance the marble and stone sector

From granite to limestone, from basalt to marble to finish with trachyte and sandstone. And then the creation of a new supply chain, the circular economy and innovation. Sardinia's marble and stone sector, which has 73 active quarries, of which 48 are granite, 12 limestone and marble, 10 basalt and trachyte, 2 slabs and one sandstone, is looking at international markets and aiming for growth. "Italia is the world's second-largest exporter of stone materials and the first in terms of technology, a sector that generates a turnover of more than 4.5 billion euro, with 3,200 companies that employ about 34,000 people," says Emanuele Cani, Regional Councillor for Industry. "In this context, the Region intends to promote a sector that even in Sardinia, after a past crisis in the sector, promises highly encouraging development projections.

For this reason, the regional executive emphasises that work is underway to 'strengthen and relaunch this sector'. "We have reached an agreement with the relevant sector operators and started a process that aims precisely at enhancing this sector," he says. "The objective is to strengthen our presence in the reference markets that are the American, Chinese, Indian. And then the Arab one and others where the use of fine stone is quite widespread'.

One of the actions put in place was to streamline bureaucracy and 'enable companies to work better'.

The initiatives include not only promotion activities in the way but also other measures. "One concerns the energy efficiency of these activities distributed throughout the region," he continues, "which is why we are considering providing financial support for any modernisation activities. That's not all, however, because among the initiatives put in place by the Region as part of the programme to relaunch the sector there is also one that concerns the creation of a supply chain. 'Our aim is to go beyond marketing,' adds Cani, 'and create a real supply chain for the sector, so that we can then access the markets with a range of superior and, of course, high quality products. The initiative to recover off-cuts, i.e. processing scraps, is also part of this framework. "The objective is to reuse what was once considered processing waste and therefore waste to be discarded as a resource," he adds. "There are studies that show that what is considered waste can become added value for the supply chain and for the products. This is also a positive element in business. As well as an important building block for the circular economy'.