A modern society needs access to all critical raw materials (CRM) that are necessary for maintaining and developing its industries, infrastructure and welfare system. CRMs are especially important for many ongoing technology shifts like the Green Deal of EU and digitalization processes. Europe has been facing increasing challenges in meeting its need for these materials, which are defined by their high economic importance and significant supply risk. Currently EU relies heavily on imported supplies of these essential resources.
The Critical Raw Materials Act of EU
The implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) of EU aims to reduce this vulnerability by establishing a framework to ensure the Union's access to a secure and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. CRMA identifies 53 raw materials that are defined as critical, but this number will likely change in the future when the list is updated. One important measure in this strategy is to increase the selective collection of waste streams that contain CRMs at levels that may be recycled, as stated in Chapter 5. This chapter also states that member states and other countries bound by the EEA Agreement is required to adopt and implement national programmes containing measures designed to increase the collection of waste with high critical raw materials recovery potential and ensure their introduction into the appropriate recycling system within three years after the agreement has entered into force. Within 2030 EU shall have reached a CRM-specific recycling capacity of 25% of its annual consumption of critical raw materials. This is a demanding task, and a successful implementation will require a good understanding of existing opportunities and barriers.
Production of critical raw materials
Almost all critical raw materials are mined as minerals from ores that are a non-renewable resource. But the same raw materials can also be produced as secondary products from recycling of certain waste streams. Strengthening value chains for secondary CRMs will reduce our dependence on virgin raw materials and minimize future supply risks and the environmental footprint of these raw materials. By identifying the products and materials that use CRMs, we can locate the waste streams where these discarded products and materials are found. Important applications for many CRMs include magnets, alloys, catalysts and pigments. Waste streams where such materials or components occur are therefore of interest for potential CRM-recyclers. The review of Nordic waste streams performed as a basis for this report has identified waste with potential for recycling about 900,000 tonnes of CRMs. The quantitively dominant CRMs in this material stream are manganese, phosphate and copper. The waste streams with the largest theoretical recovery potential relative to the recycling targets in CRMA are tailings and waste from metal production.
These waste streams can provide a lot of benefits for the Nordic societies if recovered and used for new products and materials. It would increase circularity, reduce landfilling, provide stable and sustainable workplaces and secure access to raw materials for the downstream processing industries. The Nordic countries have existing industry and expertise that may especially facilitate increased recycling of aluminium, cobalt, copper, fluorspar/fluorine, gallium, rare earth elements, magnesium, manganese, nickel, PGM-metals, phosphate, silicon metal and vanadium.
A profitable and efficient recycling operation requires systems for collection and sorting of waste streams that may serve as feedstock for the recycling operation. There are significant barriers that must be overcome to improve collection, sorting and recycling in ways that make EUs recycling targets for CRMs achievable. Although the concept of circular economy is receiving increased attention, there are still many critical raw materials where the recycling rate is practically zero. This is partly due to high recycling costs compared to the costs of primary production of the same products. But another barrier is the fact that for many critical elements, no mature and cost-effective technologies for sorting and recycling exists. Technological development will eventually lead to more resource- and cost-effective recycling solutions that allow for recycling of more critical raw materials at higher recovery rates. However, this will require time and considerable R&D efforts where the Nordics can play an important part.
Five milestones must be reached to establish Nordic secondary value chains for CRM. These are:
A system that makes it possible to identify waste streams with CRM-recycling potential.
A system for cost effective and efficient collection of waste streams with CRM-recycling potential.
A system for separating materials enriched with CRM from other materials in the waste stream.
A recycling technology that allows for recovery of all relevant CRMs at acceptable recovery rates.
Market conditions that are economically sustainable for all links in the value chain.