Engineered stone

Engineered stone is a composite material made of crushed stone bound together by an adhesive, (most commonly polymer resin, with some newer versions using cement mix). The two common stones used in producing these products are marble and quartz. The application of these products depends on the original stone used. For engineered marbles the most common application is indoor flooring and walls, while the quartz based product is used primarily for kitchen countertops. Related materials include geopolymers and cast stone. Unlike terrazzo, the material is factory made in either blocks or slabs, cut and polished by fabricators, and assembled at the worksite.

Engineered stone products are gaining in popularity; many shopping malls and department stores around the world use engineered marble for floors. Research reported in Consumer Reports magazine in 2010 reveals virtually no difference in performance between quartz based products and sealed granite.

Engineered stone (US name) is also commonly referred to as agglomerate or agglomerated stone, the last term being that recognised by European Standards (EN 14618), although to add to the terminological confusion, this standard also includes materials manufactured with a cementitious binder. The quartz version (which end consumers are much more likely to directly deal with) is commonly known as 'quartz surface' or just 'quartz'.

Breton S.P.A., a privately held company of Treviso, Italy, is the dominant supplier of equipment for making engineered stone. A mixture of approximately 93% stone aggregates and 7% polyester resin by weight (66% quartz and 34% resin by volume) is pressed into slabs (or larger blocks) using Breton's "vibrocompression vacuum process".

Although Breton was the original manufacturer of moulding equipment and still holds multiple international patents on the process, there are now several other companies producing similar machinery.

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Wikipedia