Inside Turkey's $2 billion marble and stone industry

Most of the world’s marble and travertine comes from Turkey, the world’s top exporter of natural stone. But even though the country has been mining for thousands of years, waste heaps are still piling up, and mining companies are struggling to handle all of the excess stone.

We went to Turkey to see how the country’s natural stone industry became a $2 billion business and what the costs to the environment really are. 

Most of the world’s marble and travertine comes from Turkey, the world’s top exporter of natural stone. But even though the country has been mining for thousands of years, waste heaps are still piling up, and mining companies are struggling to handle all of the excess stone.

We went to Turkey to see how the country’s natural stone industry became a $2 billion business and what the costs to the environment really are.