The invention relates to a process for the granulation of sludge- and optionally dust-form material, in which the material to be granulated is mixed with hydratable or hydraulically settable solids and water, which solids react exothermically with water and act as binder in the mixture, where the solids are allowed to hydrate or set fully or partly, and where the mixture containing the fully or partly hydrated or set solids is shaped into granules, where the solids and, if desired, dust-form materials to be granulated are wetted or moistened with water, and subsequently and/or at essentially the same time the solids are mixed with the material to be granulated. The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the process.