Slate is a material that needs to be cut and chipped into size
either by hand, or by machinery, and sometimes there is a significant
amount of waste involved in the process. One of the biggest perpetrators
seems to be large paving slabs - due to their large size, and
particular shapes, there are a lot of large cuts involved in their
manufacturing. There are many ways that the slate waste is used, but I'm
only going to list three, as I don't want this post to get too long.
The most common use of slate waste, that has been around for a long time is to use the waste for sub-base material. When people are putting in a shed, or a patio, or anything that needs a good, solid base for stability of the project, they can pick up slate waste to put in under the base material (sand, pea gravel, etc). This serves a couple of purposes, first, it give the base materials a good area to sit on, it allows water to pass through its gaps, and it is cheap. If you're building yourself a patio from slate paving slabs, than you have another plus, if you go to a slate quarry or a place selling slate with access to their own quarry, you can buy both your stones and your sub-base at the same place.
Another popular use for slate waste is as a surface dressing; there are many people who are starting to use it as a low cost alternative to gravel for their driveways. I've never actually seen this done in person, but I would imagine it could give you a really neat look, with all of the extra flecks of color that slate has in it, and you could have the only dark colored gravel driveway in your neighborhood.
The use that is now growing the fastest (pun certainly intended) is for use in gardens as mulch, or as a surface dressing for paths. As a mulch, slate waste works very well, it comes in a variety of colors, and won't rot away like wood chips, or other organic materials will. The downside of this of course, is that the slate waste mulch won't add any nutrients to the soil like other kinds will. As a surface dressing it offers the same variety of colors, along with being cheaper than gravel, and lasting longer than wood chips that some people use.
The only problem with slate waste being used in these ways is that there just isn't enough of it to go around in a lot of cases. This is great for the industry, as it means they actually have demand for their waste products, but it could also mean a price hike for it in the future. For now however, if you can get your hands on it, it makes a good cheap alternative to many other materials, a lot of which aren't a waste product.
The most common use of slate waste, that has been around for a long time is to use the waste for sub-base material. When people are putting in a shed, or a patio, or anything that needs a good, solid base for stability of the project, they can pick up slate waste to put in under the base material (sand, pea gravel, etc). This serves a couple of purposes, first, it give the base materials a good area to sit on, it allows water to pass through its gaps, and it is cheap. If you're building yourself a patio from slate paving slabs, than you have another plus, if you go to a slate quarry or a place selling slate with access to their own quarry, you can buy both your stones and your sub-base at the same place.
Another popular use for slate waste is as a surface dressing; there are many people who are starting to use it as a low cost alternative to gravel for their driveways. I've never actually seen this done in person, but I would imagine it could give you a really neat look, with all of the extra flecks of color that slate has in it, and you could have the only dark colored gravel driveway in your neighborhood.
The use that is now growing the fastest (pun certainly intended) is for use in gardens as mulch, or as a surface dressing for paths. As a mulch, slate waste works very well, it comes in a variety of colors, and won't rot away like wood chips, or other organic materials will. The downside of this of course, is that the slate waste mulch won't add any nutrients to the soil like other kinds will. As a surface dressing it offers the same variety of colors, along with being cheaper than gravel, and lasting longer than wood chips that some people use.
The only problem with slate waste being used in these ways is that there just isn't enough of it to go around in a lot of cases. This is great for the industry, as it means they actually have demand for their waste products, but it could also mean a price hike for it in the future. For now however, if you can get your hands on it, it makes a good cheap alternative to many other materials, a lot of which aren't a waste product.
If you're looking for more reading on the other side of the industry, more so the slate paving slabs themselves, be sure to check out this post at The Home and Garden Project website.
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