Background The reuse of by-products and waste is necessary to ensure a more resource-efficient future. Mining and quarry waste is, globally, the largest category of waste. In Europe about 300 million tonnes of mining waste is produced each year (Eurostat, 2003). The standard methods of managing quarry slurry are disposal in landfill, discharge into ponds, and use on quarry sites for tailing dam construction or for land restoration. However, such management methods have several potentially negative environmental impacts: the slurry may be overly acidic or alkaline; it may contain toxic substances such as dissolved metals and/or soluble and insoluble complex organic compounds; and in general, large areas of land are required for its disposal. However, this material could be used as a resource for other industries, in particular in the clay brick/tile and cement industries. These are among the most carbon-intensive industries in Cyprus, mainly due to the large amounts of fuel required to achieve the high temperatures needed, and the use of raw materials such as calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Objectives The objective of the QuaResE project was to demonstrate alternative methods for the production of bricks, ceramics and cement using waste quarry slurry as a raw material. The project aimed to demonstrate the use of waste quarry slurry in the production of red bricks and batches of cement. These demonstrations were planned to test different quantities of waste quarry slurry and other raw materials in the brick and cement mixes. The project also aimed to calculate the reduction in CO2 emissions for each scenario and to assess how greater resource efficiency can improve waste management and the use of virgin raw materials, thereby providing environmental and financial benefits for the industries concerned. Results The QuaResE project demonstrated the use of quarry waste slurry as a raw material in the brick/ceramic and cement industries in Cyprus. By doing this, it promoted the concept of resource efficiency as an environmental management tool that can help decrease environmental impacts in these energy-demanding industries. The project assessed the effectiveness of the proposed methods using different combinations of slurry waste and other raw materials. In the early stages, the project team collected data regarding the operation of quarries and the clay brick/tile and cement production industries, quarry slurry characteristics, and production waste management procedures in quarries and the brick and cement industries. This resulted in a report on current quarry slurry waste management. The findings were used to develop scenarios for the brick and cement industries that constituted the basis for the pilot implementation phase. During the demonstration actions for brick production, the project implemented a total of 16 scenarios for two types of bricks (8 for each type of brick), which enabled an optimal percentage of quarry slurry to be identified in the mixture. The scenario with 90% replacement of red clay by intrusive quarry slurry in the mixture was selected as the “best”. Both types of bricks fulfilled the minimum requirements of the relevant Quality Standard (CYS EN 771-1:2011). In the cement industry, 20 laboratory experiments and 8 industrial trials were conducted. From the trials, it was concluded that in the production of clinker, the "best scenario" is considered to be 30-50% substitution with intrusive quarry slurry; in the production of concrete, up to 5% substitution is possible (due to the existing standard). The project team used questionnaires to monitor the pilot implementations, and also performed environmental, financial and social assessments. These demonstrated the clear environmental benefits of the proposed methodology. For the quarry industry, benefits included land use reduction (by 17 000m2), reduced visual impacts, and the diversion of 120 000 tonnes of quarry slurry per year from landfill to the brick and cement industries. For the brick industry, if the slurry is consistently of the same granulometry no grinding will be needed and thus noteworthy savings in electricity can be achieved; although CO2 emissions from the production process increased with increasing percentage of intrusive slurry included in the raw materials mixture. For the cement industry, significant reductions in electricity consumption, CO2 emissions, PM10, and land use were observed when quarry slurry is used in the clinker and cement production (greater benefits were found for clinker production). Stakeholder consultation meetings with all three industrial sectors, and guidelines for the quarry, brick and cement industries were produced. Transport was defined as a parameter determining the financial feasibility of the proposed method, so the distance between the quarry and the industry utilising the slurry should be as short as possible. Another factor is reducing the humidity content of the slurry, which can reduce handling costs and environmental impacts. Subsidies may be needed to promote such resource-efficiency approaches and waste integration in industrial production processes. With such subsidies, industries may secure savings due to reduced penalties relating to non-compliance with waste management obligations. By promoting resource efficiency in energy demanding Cypriot industries, the project contributed to the implementation of EU sustainable development policy, including the Europe 2020 Strategy and its flagship initiative ‘A Resource Efficient Europe’.