Great to see the publication of the FutuRaM project’s final report, offering fascinating insights into the scale of Europe’s “urban mine” and the role waste could play in the future supply of critical minerals.
The analysis covers seven major waste streams, including electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, vehicles and dismantled wind turbines, across the EU27 plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the UK. The full report can be found here: https://futuram.eu/
Some headline findings highlight the scale of opportunity in our waste:
♻️ Improved recovery systems could enable Europe to recover 4.1–5.7 million tonnes of critical raw materials annually by 2050, with the potential to substitute up to 56% of primary material imports under a circular economy scenario
♻️ In 2022, 5.2 million tonnes of critical materials were placed on the market, compared to 2.1 million tonnes entering waste streams and just 1.4 million tonnes recovered
♻️ Around 17 critical materials, including lithium, cobalt and rare earths, could reach recovery rates above 80% by 2050, despite very low recycling rates today for some of them.
Beyond supply security, recovering these materials also delivers significant environmental benefits when avoided emissions are considered.
However, the report also makes clear there are major gaps in current collection and recycling systems which mean the full potential may not be realised.
Its recommendations closely align with the Royal Society of Chemistry’s, particularly the need to improve data collection and tracking of material flows, and to invest in recycling infrastructure and technologies to prevent valuable resources being lost from the economy.
You can read more about our work here:
https://lnkd.in/eYARxhVF
