The need for an IP (I-STONE) to address the current problems and the future requirements of the European Stone Sector originates from the ever increasing need of the EU Construction industry for more and higher quality stone products and the fact that despite its economic importance, the Stone Sector has not made any significant technological progress the last decades. The primary aim of I-STONE is the re-engineering of the stone production chain, in order to considerably increase its efficiency and productivity, minimise the amount of stone wastes disposed in the environment, produce a new generation of multifunctional products based on stone wastes and safeguard the quality in stone application and use. The ultimate target of the project is to transform the rather traditional Stone Sector into a modern, competitive and knowledge-based industry and ensure a lasting technological superiority of EU over its competitors.

These objectives will be achieved with the incorporation of nanotechnology and intelligent manufacturing in stone processing and through the creation of new applicable knowledge and radical innovations in advanced materials and multifunctional products. The main radically new knowledge to be developed includes: the development of a new generation of consolidating agents with chemical characteristics similar to that of the stone, which will efficiently consolidate the stone products and prevent them from breaking during their processing; innovative extra thin cutting disks, a new generation of Ultra Fine Dispersed Diamonds and new heavy metal free metal-diamond bonds resistant to high temperatures and mechanical stresses that will lead to the development of innovative high-speed drilling and cutting tools to maximise productivity and new multifunctional products from stone wastes for construction applications with energy storage and self-cleaning properties.