Marble has been a prominent natural stone exploited since ancient times, commonly employed as a building material and ornamental stone. However, the disposal of waste generated from marble extraction, particularly fine sludge, poses significant environmental challenges for the dimensional stone industry. The difficulty in managing and recovering these materials, exacerbated by local regulations and the absence of suitable recovery protocols, often leads to landfilling. This issue is exemplified by the Carrara Marble Basin in the Apuan Alps (Tuscany, Italy), where more than half of the extracted marble remains as quarry waste or debris. Modern cutting technologies have intensified the production of finer materials and sawing residue, known as “marmettola”, ranging in size from fine sand to silt. The disposal of these materials, commonly through landfilling or abandonment, has profound environmental repercussions. This research primarily aimed to carry out a preliminary physical, mineralogical, and morphological characterization of the fine waste and sludges generated from Carrara Marble exploitation. The findings reveal the high granulometric uniformity of the materials, and a nearly pure carbonate composition, suggesting potential for reuse in various industrial sectors such as paper, plastics, and pharmaceuticals production.

The 'Ornamental Stones of Piemonte Region' geo-lithological map at 1:250,000 scale aims at reviewing the ornamental stone heritage of Piemonte at the regional scale. The map derives from a thorough revision of the available literature, integrated with some unpublished original data. The map shows the location of the main quarries of ornamental stones of the region, selected on the basis of their historical, cultural and architectonic relevance. A geo-lithological basemap was produced, deriving it from a basic Geological Map of Piemonte, available at the same scale. The large varieties of lithotypes of Piemonte have been resumed, in the new map, into 21 classes, which all the ornamental stones have been assigned to. The Main Map is enriched by some significant examples of using the ornamental stones in historical buildings, and it is supported by a supplementary data base containing essential information about the quarry sites and the quarried material.

As the UN Agenda 2030 recognizes heritage protection in several goals, this research was focused on the improvement of the graffiti removal from stones. The cleaning of two graffiti paints with different composition (an alkyd- and an acrylic–based paints) from two stones (gneiss and travertine) was performed considering a synergistic approach based on the combination of a low-toxic solvent ternary mixture, followed by an Nd:YAG laser. The different concentrations of the low-toxic solvents were based on the triangular Teas graph, keeping similar Hansen solubility of the products commonly used in conservation of cultural heritage: methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and n-butyl acetate. The n-butyl acetate was replaced by mixture A (51% ethyl alcohol/11% acetone/38% isooctane) and MEK by mixture B (7%/13%/80%). Regardless of the graffiti composition, the gneiss was satisfactorily cleaned with the mixture A, while for the travertine, the best results were achieved by the mixture B. Then, surfaces treated with the mixtures were irradiated with a QS Nd:YAG laser working at 532 nm. The cleaning evaluation was performed by stereomicroscopy, color spectrophotometry, roughness measurements, reflectance measurements, and scanning electron microscopy. As result, regardless on the stone and the graffiti paints, it was confirmed the enhancement of cleaning of the mixtures followed by the Nd:YAG laser. However, it is crucial to identify previously the concentrations of the chemical products that allow the best performance considering the graffiti-stone interaction, on the one hand, and the optimal laser’s parameters, on the other hand.

The study of ancient marble plays an important role in the interpretation of historical and archaeological sites and gives interesting information about building materials used in ancient times and their trade routes. The present work focuses on Chianocco marble that represents one of the most important ancient white marbles for cultural heritage exploited in the Piedmont region (Northwest Italy) and employed for the Palazzo Madama façade. A multi-analytical study based on petrographic (optical and scanning electron microscopy), electron microprobe, cathodoluminescence and stable isotope analyses was carried out on these marbles in order to perform an archaeometric study. Chianocco marble was used in Turin during the baroque era by the Savoy architect Filippo Juvarra (1678–1736) in historical buildings, such as the façade of the Palazzo Madama, the plinth of the façade of the town Cathedral and the columns (now plastered) of the portico of Piazza San Carlo. This stone is a dolomitic rock belonging to the Mesozoic cover of the Dora Maira Massif (Pennidic Unit). It shows a vuggy fabric characterized by a vacuolar texture due to tectonic brecciation and subsequent selective dissolution during subaerial exposure. This kind of research is useful to highlight the importance of the use of local stones as building materials and to investigate stone materials for the restoration and maintenance of historical buildings.

The application of anti-graffiti products to stones belonging to architectural heritage is a common procedure that is currently complementary to traditional graffiti removal treatments, such as chemical and mechanical cleaning. In this study, two anti-graffiti coatings (a sacrificial product and a permanent one) were tested on four stones (with a different texture, mineralogy, and surface finish) commonly found in the historical city center of Turin (Italy). In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the anti-graffiti products, the removal of two graffiti paints with different compositions was tested. The results of the cleaning procedures performed on the surfaces coated with anti-graffiti products were evaluated, considering both the graffiti remains and the alterations induced on the surface. Chemical cleaning based on the use of a low-toxic ternary solvent mixture was applied on the unprotected stones for a comparison with the results obtained on the surfaces coated with anti-graffiti products. The samples were observed under stereomicroscopy and ultraviolet fluorescence photography and all of the treated surfaces were evaluated by roughness measurements, the contact sponge method, static contact angle measurements, and scanning electron microscopy. The composition of the anti-graffiti product, the graffiti paint to be cleaned, and the remover recommended by the manufacturer proved to be key factors for the cleaning effectiveness achieved on coated surfaces. Moreover, to a lesser extent, the mineralogy, texture, and surface finish of the stone also influenced the results of the cleaning procedures. The sacrificial anti-graffiti product enhanced the cleaning effectiveness on all stones if compared to uncoated surfaces; however, the permanence of coating remains on the surface after cleaning proved to be critical. Regarding the use of the permanent anti-graffiti products, intense disparate results were achieved, depending on the graffiti paint composition.