Since 2011 the European Commission has assessed every 3 years a list of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) for the EU economy within its Raw Materials Initiative. To date, 14 CRMs were identified in 2011, 20 in 2014, 27 in 2017 and 30 in 2020. [1] These materials are mainly used in energy transition and digital technologies. [1] Then in March 2023 Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the Critical Raw Materials Act, [2] "for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the European Council establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials". [3] At the time, Europe depended on China for 98% of its rare-earth needs, 97% of its lithium supply and 93% of its magnesium supply. [4]
In the U.S., critical minerals that are at risk of shortage or supply chain disruption are assessed by the United States Geological Survey and by the National Science and Technology Council. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Critical materials have been defined by one academic group as "raw materials for which there are no viable substitutes with current technologies, which most consumer countries are dependent on importing, and whose supply is dominated by one or a few producers". [9]
Several factors may combine to make a raw material (mineral or not) a critical resource. These may include the following:
According to the United Nations in 2011, [10] as the demand for rare metals will quickly exceed the consumed tonnage in 2013, [11] it is urgent and priority should be placed on recycling rare metals with a worldwide production lower than 100 000 t/year, in order to conserve natural resources and energy. [11] However, this measure will not be enough. Planned obsolescence of products which contain these metals should be limited, and all elements inside computers, mobile phones or other electronic objects found in electronic waste should be recycled. This involves looking for eco-designed alternatives, and changes in consumer behavior in favor of selective sorting aimed at an almost total recycling of these metals.
Europe alone produced about 12 million tons of metallic wastes in 2012, and this amount tended to grow more than 4% a year (faster than municipal waste). However, fewer than 20 metals, of the 60 studied by experts of the UNEP, were recycled to more than 50% in the world. 34 compounds were recycled at lower than 1% of the total discarded as trash.
According to the UNEP, even without new technologies, that rate could be greatly increased. The energy efficiency of the production and recycling methods has also to be developed. [11]
Information about the location of deposits of rare metals is scarce. In 2013, the US DOE created the Critical Materials Institute, whose intended role is to focus on finding and commercializing ways to reduce reliance on the critical materials essential for American competitiveness in the clean energy technologies. [12]
On 3 September 2020, the European Commission presented its strategy to both strengthen and better control its supply of some thirty materials deemed critical, in particular rare earths. The list includes, for example:
Where European resources are insufficient, the Commission promises to strengthen long-term partnerships, notably with Canada, Africa and Australia. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
There are many issues about these resources and they concern a large number of people and human activities. It is possible to distinguish:
The Call for evidence preliminary to the Act was made in autumn 2022. [25] The Act "identifies a list of strategic raw materials, which are crucial to technologies important to Europe's green and digital ambitions and for defence and space applications, while being subject to potential supply risks in the future." By 2030, one single ex-EU country shall produce not more than 65% of the EU's annual consumption of each strategic raw material. Clear benchmarks have been set for domestic capacities of the EU, which will by 2030: [2]
The Act will "reduce the administrative burden and simplify permitting procedures for critical raw materials projects in the EU. In addition, selected Strategic Projects will benefit from support for access to finance and shorter permitting timeframes (24 months for extraction permits and 12 months for processing and recycling permits). Member States will also have to develop national programmes for exploring geological resources." [2]
The document acknowledges that the EU "will never be self-sufficient in supplying such raw materials and will continue to rely on imports for a majority of its consumption. International trade is therefore essential to supporting global production and ensuring diversification of supply. The EU will need to strengthen its global engagement with reliable partners to develop and diversify investment and promote stability in international trade and strengthen legal certainty for investors. In particular, the EU will seek mutually beneficial partnerships with emerging markets and developing economies, notably in the framework of its Global Gateway strategy." [2]
All critical raw materials are graphically summarised on the periodic table of elements published in review paper "The Critical Raw Materials in Cutting Tools for Machining Applications: A Review". [26] The list was updated in March 2023. [27]
They are also shown in the table below. [1]
2011 | 2014 | 2017 | 2020 | 2023 |
---|---|---|---|---|
. | . | . | . | Aluminium |
Antimony | Antimony | Antimony | Antimony | Antimony |
. | . | . | . | Arsenic |
. | . | . | Bauxite | Bauxite |
. | . | Baryte | Baryte | Baryte |
Beryllium | Beryllium | Beryllium | Beryllium | Beryllium |
. | . | Bismuth | Bismuth | Bismuth |
. | Borate | Borate | Borate | Borate |
. | . | . | . | Boron |
. | Chromium | . | . | . |
Cobalt | Cobalt | Cobalt | Cobalt | Cobalt |
. | . | . | . | Copper |
. | Coking coal | Coking coal | Coking coal | Coking coal |
. | . | . | . | Feldspar |
Fluorspar | Fluorspar | Fluorspar | Fluorspar | Fluorspar |
Gallium | Gallium | Gallium | Gallium | Gallium |
Germanium | Germanium | Germanium | Germanium | Germanium |
Graphite | Graphite | Graphite | Graphite | Graphite |
. | . | Hafnium | Hafnium | Hafnium |
. | . | Helium | . | Helium |
Indium | Indium | Indium | Indium | Indium |
. | . | . | Lithium | Lithium |
. | Magnesite | . | . | . |
Magnesium | Magnesium | Magnesium | Magnesium | Magnesium |
. | . | . | . | Manganese |
. | . | Natural rubber | Natural rubber | . |
. | . | . | . | Nickel |
Niobium | Niobium | Niobium | Niobium | Niobium |
Platinum group metals | Platinum group metals | Platinum group metals | Platinum group metals | Platinum group metals |
. | Phosphate rock | Phosphate rock | Phosphate rock | Phosphate rock |
. | . | Phosphorus | Phosphorus | Phosphorus |
Scandium | . | Scandium | Scandium | Scandium |
. | Silicon | Silicon | Silicon | Silicon |
. | . | . | Strontium | Strontium |
Tantalum | . | Tantalum | Tantalum | Tantalum |
. | . | . | Titanium | Titanium |
Rare earth | Light rare earth | Light rare earth | Light rare earth | Light rare earth |
Heavy rare earth | Heavy rare earth | Heavy rare earth | Heavy rare earth | |
Tungsten | Tungsten | Tungsten | Tungsten | Tungsten |
. | . | Vanadium | Vanadium | Vanadium |
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the properties it had in its original state. It is an alternative to "conventional" waste disposal that can save material and help lower greenhouse gas emissions. It can also prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reducing energy use, air pollution and water pollution.
The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids, are a set of 17 nearly indistinguishable lustrous silvery-white soft heavy metals. Compounds containing rare earths have diverse applications in electrical and electronic components, lasers, glass, magnetic materials, and industrial processes.
Aluminium recycling is the process in which secondary commercial aluminium is created from scrap or other forms of end-of-life or otherwise unusable aluminium. It involves re-melting the metal, which is cheaper and more energy-efficient than the production of virgin aluminium by electrolysis of alumina (Al2O3) refined from raw bauxite by use of the Bayer and Hall–Héroult processes.
Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified according to their availability as renewable or national and international resources. An item may become a resource with technology. The benefits of resource utilization may include increased wealth, proper functioning of a system, or enhanced well. From a human perspective, a regular resource is anything to satisfy human needs and wants.
An electric vehicle battery is a rechargeable battery used to power the electric motors of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or hybrid electric vehicle (HEV).
Natural resource economics deals with the supply, demand, and allocation of the Earth's natural resources. One main objective of natural resource economics is to better understand the role of natural resources in the economy in order to develop more sustainable methods of managing those resources to ensure their availability for future generations. Resource economists study interactions between economic and natural systems, with the goal of developing a sustainable and efficient economy.
Co-processing is the use of waste as raw material, or as a source of energy, or both to replace natural mineral resources and fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum and gas in industrial processes, mainly in energy intensive industries (EII) such as cement, lime, steel, glass, and power generation. Waste materials used for Co-processing are referred to as alternative fuels and raw materials (AFR).
A circular economy is a model of resource production and consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible. The concept aims to tackle global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model. The main three principles required for the transformation to a circular economy are: designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems. CE is defined in contradistinction to the traditional linear economy.
The International Resource Panel is a scientific panel of experts that aims to help nations use natural resources sustainably without compromising economic growth and human needs. It provides independent scientific assessments and expert advice on a variety of areas, including:
The European Association of Mining Industries, Metal Ores & Industrial Minerals (Euromines) was founded in 1996 to represent several national mining associations mainly from Western Europe. Today the association is the recognized representative of the European metals and minerals mining industry and represents 19 national European federations and 28 companies as direct members from the whole Europe. Altogether large and small member companies and their subsidiaries in Europe and in other parts of the world provide jobs to more than 350,000 people. Through the activities and operations of these members, more than 42 different metals and minerals are produced. For some metals and minerals, Europe is the world's leading producer.
The European Movement for Efficient Energy (EME²) is a stakeholder platform that seek to promote efficiency in the energy sector as a means to achieve overall energy and resource efficiency in Europe. This would mean producing and delivering more energy for final consumption from less primary energy and other natural resources, notably water and land. This is EME² refers to as "efficient energy”. The current primary focus or their campaign is on the supply of more resource-efficient electricity and combined heat and power.
The World Resources Forum (WRF) is a non-profit organisation for sharing knowledge about the economic, political, social and environmental implications of global resource use. WRF promotes resource productivity among researchers, policymakers, business, NGOs and the public. In addition to organizing international and regional conferences, the WRF Secretariat coordinates multistakeholder dialogue projects, amongst others the Sustainable Recycling Initiative (SRI) as well as the H2020 projects Towards a World Forum on Raw Materials (FORAM), and CEWASTE. The WRF contributes to other EC-projects and projects with the German development organisation GiZ, UNEP and UNIDO.
Resource efficiency is the maximising of the supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively, with minimum wasted (natural) resource expenses. It means using the Earth's limited resources in a sustainable manner while minimising environmental impact.
Dematerialization is a term in economics and the social sciences that describes the process of making more goods with less material. The term itself possesses multi-accentuality, which allows it to be diversely explained by different fields of social science, such as Mainstream economics, which puts focus on the aspects of technological evolution and market demand shifts, and Ecological economics, which emphasizes the effect of dematerialization on the natural environment.
CELSA Group is a multinational group of steel companies headquartered in Spain, mainly in the industry of steel reinforcement or rebar.
The European mining industry has a long tradition. Although the continent's mining earns for a small share of GDP, it provides a large and significant share of the world-wide production.
A technology-critical element (TCE) is a chemical element that is critical to modern and emerging technologies, resulting in a striking increase in their usage. Similar terms include critical elements, critical materials, critical raw materials, energy-critical elements and elements of security.
The European Battery Alliance (EBA) is Europe's plan to create its own competitive and sustainable battery cell manufacturing value chain. Its purpose is to ensure that Europe benefits from the technological evolution in the Electric Vehicle Market and beyond. The action plan includes cleaner and more sustainable vehicles as well as safer traffic operations across Europe.
The electric vehicle supply chain comprises the mining and refining of raw materials and the manufacturing processes that produce batteries and other components for electric vehicles.
Governments designate critical raw materials (CRM) as critical for their economies so there is no single list of such raw materials as the list varies from country to country as does the definition of critical. They include technology-critical elements, rare-earth elements and strategic materials.
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