Mean from 3 samples (Mitchell et al. 2001)

Sandstones are sedimentary rocks, composed primarily of sand-sized particles of quartz and to a lesser extent feldspar, set in a fine-grained matrix.

Historically sandstone was extensively as a building stone. Now, less than 3% of the total sandstone production is used as building stone and it is primarily used instead as a crushed rock aggregate (BGS).

Whilst the annual production of sandstone is significantly less than other forms of crushed rock aggregate (constituting 10% of annual crushed rock production), the proportion of fines generated in its processing are significantly higher. The crushing, washing and screening process results in significant volumes of fine-particled residue which currently have no commercial uses.