Abstract
The authors present a way of manufacturing composite materials for building use by adding value to a waste resulted in an oil refinery. The said waste is the spent caustic proceeding from the Fluid Catalytic C racking units. The manufacturing process implies: 1.The recovery of the organic content from the spent caustic 2.Transforming the organic phase into resin 3.Impregnating natural fibres with resin in order to obtain fibre reinforced materials .The possible materials to obtain are: boards and hydro-insulating materials for plumbing. The work was oriented towards the building material (boards). The paper presents: the chemical characterization of the waste (the spent caustic), the organic compounds recovery process, and the resin synthesis, the manufacture of the composite material by moulding and the results of the mechanical tests. Keywords: recycling, waste management, composite material