Although good materials, acrylics and laminates are not quite as durable as engineered stone countertops. They tend to show more wear over time, and are more prone to damage from extreme heat etc. Some may consider the look and feel of stone to be more "premium".

But of course they're cheaper and lighter and probably still cheaper than stone even if you end up replacing them a couple of times over the lifetime of the kitchen...

Polished concrete is another decent alternative to engineered stone, although again perhaps not as durable.

You can repolish an acrylic top and it looks brand new. Most professionals should only take an hour or two to do it.

Geopolymer to the rescue!

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000888460...

Polishing, sanding concrete will produce tons of tiny dust particles just as cutting the stone.

Yes, but the dust from concrete or natural stone doesn’t seem to be anything like as dangerous as the dust from engineered stone.

(You still should use PPE and avoid inhaling it, of course!)

Don't know about 2000+ grit polishing concrete, it's likely to be wet sanded but still. The particles would be a lot finer.

The 'engineered' stone is just very fine dust along with binders.