Raw materials management for minimizing “waste” - Synergies between Xirorema and Malakasa quarries

Minimizing waste from the production of raw materials, as well as prolonging the life cycle of strategic quarry reserves have initiated new types of synergies and management of TITAN aggregates’ quarries. An indicative example of this practice is the synergies built between two TITAN quarries, Xirorema and Malakasa, located in Attica region, Greece, in a distance of 55 Km from each other.

The main idea of this effort undertaken by TITAN in Greece is to utilize as much as possible the surplus of annually produced quantities of “reddish” limestone from the Xirorema quarry (west Attica), unlikely to be sold in the local market of ready-mix producers.

By shipping the annual surplus amount to a few hundred thousands of tons of red or pink-color product of Xirorema limestone –but otherwise fully suitable as aggregates, according to properties’ specs– to Malakasa, TITAN avoids stockpiling this material as potential “waste” and occupying much needed space.

Otherwise stockpiling will restrict the rational development of active benches and will finally result in loss of vital recoverable reserves from lower levels of the quarry.

As Malakasa quarry is in shortage of clayish limestone and in need of large volumes of good quality soil, TITAN is also able to produce and sell much of this “reddish” aggregates from Malakasa, favored by the local market conditions. In addition, TITAN uses this “waste” from Xirorema as a top-layer material to implement its rehabilitation plan for Malakasa. In this case, it becomes clear that the surplus from one operation can be matched with the needs of another operation, resulting in substantial synergies and improvements regarding both economic and environmental performance.