Mined from the bottom of coal mine spoil is a mixture of particles of carbon - waste that does not have any value on the market. In order to obtain commercial coal product, mining output is subjected to enrichment processes in coal preparation plants. Under industrial conditions, this process is based on the use of gravity methods of enrichment in a water environment or in a magnetite heavy liquid. Gradually developed over the years, methods of commercial coal production generated a considerable amount of secondary production in the form of coal sludge. The Centre of Waste and Environmental Management, a branch of the Institute of Mechanized Construction and Rock Mining, together with the Department of Mineral and Waste Disposal of the Silesian University of Technology, undertook the research and development project titled “Identification of the energy potential of coal sludge deposits in the national fuel balance and technological development strategy for their use.” The main objective of the project is to identify opportunities for inclusion, either directly or through appropriate processes of enrichment, in the national fuel balance of existing deposits of coal sludge. The project will also contribute to the fulfillment of the provisions of Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on the management of waste from extractive industries, and the Act of 10 July 2008 on mining waste (Journal of Laws of 2008, No. 138, item. 865) which transposes the provisions of the above Directive into Polish legislation in the hierarchy of management of extractive waste, requiring manufacturers to limit the amount of waste deposited in the mining environment and to decommission existing plants on which they were deposited. As part of the above mentioned project, an inventory of existing facilities was performed, along with conducting quantitative and qualitative identification. Then, a mathematical model was created to calculate the energy potential of each test object which will, in the future, identify potential customers and the identity number of possible deliveries. Based on this assessment of the impact of coal sludge deposits inventoried, including various components of the environment and the developed scoring system, a ranked list was fixed of objects which potentially comprise the greatest threat to the environment, taking into account the following: the current state, the phase of any operation, and the state after its completion. Direction, scope, and design guidelines for future revitalization of voids were defined. For inventoried and qualitatively and quantitatively identified deposits of coal sludge, technologies were developed for their enrichment into fuel for power plants, taking into account the diverse physical structure and chemical properties of the deposits. The work also presents directions for the potential use of waste resulting from the enrichment of coal sludge deposits as the mineral material in the production of artificial aggregates of sewage sludge and waste glass as a filler in the production of hydraulically bound mixtures, and (in addition to ceramics. The final stage of the project will be proposals for technical, organizational, and legal solutions – with a strategy of technological development - designed to use the inventoried quantity and quality of coal sludge deposits in the domestic energy industry. Implementation of the project by providing “know-how” will contribute to the creation and development of innovative enterprises, especially small and medium sized companies interested in providing services for the mining and energy sector. This will be the result of the use of the product obtained in the process of enrichment and the enrichment process residues by a wide variety of recipients. It will also enable the creation of “spin-off” companies operating on the basis of the project’s developments of innovative technologies using coal sludge deposits and residues from the enrichment process. These companies may perform services for the mining and energy sector, contributing to the spread of new technologies in the economy