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Quartz Countertops Aren’t Solid Quartz

In most quartz countertops, some quartz is present. But about 10 percent of the material volume in a quartz countertop isn’t stone at all. Rather, it’s a polymeric or cement-based binder. And the other 90 percent? Crushed up waste granite, marble, and natural stone or recycled industrial wastes, such as ceramic, silica, glass, and mirrors.

Yes, there’s some actual quartz—sometimes a lot of it. All of this rock material mixed together and held together with binders is what gives a so-called quartz countertop the look and feel of stone.

More accurately, a quartz countertop should probably be called engineered stone or compound stone—terms that more accurately describe the way these products are created. The industry, in fact, is increasingly using the term engineered stone to refer to this type of countertop.

Bottom line: Quartz countertops can include some amount of actual quartz, but they include no solid quartz extracted from quarries and likely have lots of other materials in them, as well.