## 4 Conclusions  
To prevent the production of materials from affecting natural resources, it is necessary to promote the use of the best available techniques, as well as innovation in production plants to replace, as far as possible, the use of finite natural resources with the waste generated in the different production processes, closing product cycles. This implies a firm commitment to reuse and recycling, and always minimizing the transport of raw materials and products, promoting the use of available resources in local areas. The ceramics industry generates impacts throughout its entire production cycle, from the extraction of the necessary resources to the final distribution of the product to the customer and the disposal of the waste generated. The LCA conducted in this research examines the brick production system from cradle to gate by comparing bricks produced in the traditional way with bricks to which olive pomace (alperujo) has been added at 3, 7, and 10% by weight, measuring its impact using IPCC and CML methodologies for a reference time of 100 years. Regarding the potential environmental benefits of the incorporation of olive pomace into fired bricks, it has been observed that the stages of the life cycle that benefit the most are the \"raw material\" and \"extraction\" stages. Extraction accounts for only 1% of the \"Global Warning Potential\" in both the traditional system and in bricks with olive pomace, and between 1 and 3% for the environmental categories of \"Photochemical Oxidation\", \"Ozone Depletion\", \"Acidification\", and \"Abiotic Depletion\". The raw materials stage is the most environmentally beneficial in the \"Ecotoxicity\", \"Human Toxicity\", and \"Eutrophication\" categories, with values below 8%, mainly due to a reduced need for feedstock, which is covered by the waste added. The least benefited stage would be the manufacturing, mainly due to the atmospheric emissions produced by the thermal decomposition of the raw materials used and the energy intensity required for the process, which, although reduced in some categories due to the exothermic decomposition of the olive pomace, is still high. The manufacturing phase in the traditional system accounts for 90% of the \"Global Warning Potential\", 92% of the \"Global Warning Potential\" for bricks with 3% alperoujo, and 93% and 94% for bricks with 7 and 10 wt% olive pomace, respectively. The environmental profile for the other categories is similar, with no significant variations due to the olive pomace addition. On the other hand, transport is not modified with the incorporation of the residue compared to the traditional system, as the emissions from the transport of the olive pomace have been assimilated as the corresponding part of the raw material it replaces. The aggregate analysis carried out shows that the benefits of incorporating olive pomace into bricks are very limited. Although olive pomace bricks performed better in the categories of Abiotic Resource Depletion, Ozone Depletion, and Terrestrial Ecotoxicity, this was offset by higher impacts in the categories of Acidification, Eutrophication, Human Toxicity, Freshwater and Seawater Ecotoxicity, and Photochemical Oxidation. Finally, the higher amount of added olive pomace results in a slight decrease in environmental impact in all environmental categories except \"Global Warming Potential\". In short, construction is one of the least environmentally sustainable sectors, generating high environmental costs, mainly due to the high consumption of resources and the large amount of waste produced. The brick manufacturing process has a negative environmental impact and is one of the most used materials on a daily basis in the construction sector worldwide. For this reason, the brick industry should implement technologies that consume less energy or use other more renewable energy sources.