Background The Hebron District hosts around 65% of the Palestinian Territories’ marble production. Supporting some 300 quarries and 600 stone cutting companies, it is the most important Palestinian industry and the 12th largest of its sector in the world. The high levels of production in a relatively small area creates major environmental problems, such as air and water pollution, degradation of the landscape, illegal solid waste dumps, and open-air sludge disposals that cause soil degradation and damage natural vegetation. Objectives The objectives of this LIFE Third Countries project focussed on establishing new environmental controls and capacity in the Hebron Municipality to address problems associated with the treatment of debris, sludge and water from the marble industry. A new regulation was planned to form part of the Palestinian strategy for the environment. The activities of the project aimed at the establishment of a methodological model for the recycling of industrial wastewater and separation of calcium carbonate. A prototype was proposed to test this model.A strong partnership was formed with Italian marble industries to facilitate knowledge transfer and build the necessary capacity in Hebron. The results of the project were expected to improve the capacity of the Hebron Municipality to tackle environmental problems arising from marble production. Results The project’s core objectives were realised and results can be seen to have contributed to a reduction in the consumption of high-quality water, as well as limiting pollution in soil and underground reservoirs from the stone sludge. Key outcomes included: Assessing the environmental impact of the local marble and stone industry and of its illegal dumping activities (via a GIS tool); Facilitating the adoption of a new environmental regulation in the Hebron Municipality for the treatment of marble debris, sludge and water from the industrial cycle; Establishing an effective methodological model and demonstrating its potential for the recycling of industrial wastewater and separation of calcium carbonate in a prototype plant; Awareness raising about the project and other pollution control issues with local stone sector representatives and external donors; Development of distance learning tools to broaden dissemination of the project outcomes for other Palestinian stakeholders; and Establishing a network between Palestinian and Italian marble clusters to address other environmental issues in the Palestinian marble sector.Some project targets were not achieved. For example, it was not possible to gain involvement of women in the prototype plant management and dissemination of results in other Middle-East countries was limited to the project website. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report (see "Read more" section).