Engineered quartz looks like natural stone because it has depth and translucency, and each piece is somewhat unique because it is made by hand sprinkling various powders into a mass that gets pressed and cured. This is also why it sells for as much as natural stone. Porcelain may be physically superior but it does look like "printer paper".

Many natural stones are, depending on precise application, pretty bad for exterior use.

> The manufacturing process for engineered quartz is now being interwoven with silicosis through the legal system, leading to manufacturers marketing “low silica” quartz at a cost premium. This premium is closing the cost gap with porcelain. This is the main economic and legal reason as jurisdictions- Australia and maybe soon California look to ban these products forcing the market towards natural stones.

This is wrong, and the response to it was misguided.

The problem never was the manufacturing process, as manufacturers, especially in Australia, are well aware of occupational hazard.

The problem was people cutting engineer stone dry and without respiratory protection. You can’t really dry cut anything that vaporises or aerosolises without creating some kind of hazard. There was one 26 year old guy here in Australia who’d been cutting engineered stone on site, dry, with no or insufficient respiratory protection, and was expected to check out before turning 30.

The response, banning the products is misguided, because natural stones present approximately the exact same risks. Namely, you can aerosolise any stone and deliberately hoof the particles and expect good outcomes.

The correct response was to ensure the people working with the product follow the correct safety protocols.

But this being Australia, next time something like this happens, Anika Wells will just ban us from talking about it, if the toxic Labor-Greens federal government get their way.