Strategic collaboration is the key to Europe’s cleantech resilience
Op-Ed by Peter Tom Jones, KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals (SIM²) In recent months, setbacks for major midstream players in the mine-to-EV/cleantech value chain have highlighted the challenges currently faced by Europe's cleantech sector. In this OpEd, Peter Tom Jones argues that these developments underscore the fragility of Europe’s cleantech supply chain and the critical importance of fostering strategic collaboration and partnerships to ensure its resilience. In the last few months, troubling news has emerged about cleantech icons such as Swedish battery producer Northvolt and Belgian company Umicore, which manufactures NMC battery cathode materials (CAM) and recycles [...]
Request for Proposal: End-to-end event organizing and production service for General Assembly
EIT RawMaterials invites you to respond to this Request for Proposal (RfP) “General Assembly”. The selected agency will provide us with an end-to-end service to organize General Assembly in a hybrid format, live stream and in-person participation, including voting platform embedded in the live stream. All the participants including the ones present at the event venue should login to the stream in order to cast a vote. The event location is Berlin, Germany on the 3rd of December and the duration of the event is ca. 2 hours including 30 minutes of Q&A session with the questions coming from [...]
A realistic approach to maximising silicon recovery in Europe
OpEd by Jan-Philipp Mai, JPM Silicon The Critical Raw Materials Act has set an extremely ambitious goal: by 2030, at least 25 per cent of Europe's annual consumption of critical and strategic raw materials should come from domestic recycling. However, when it comes to sourcing recycled silicon, our current trajectory will widely miss this target. As Europe generates increasing amounts of solar panel waste - projected to reach between 1 and 4 million tons annually by 2030 - the potential for recycled silicon seems promising. Yet, even if we were to recycle all available silicon, this would only yield between [...]
Europe Automakers Must Step Up to Enhance Responsible Sourcing
The automotive industry should leverage its clout, volume, partnerships to enhance responsible sourcing of raw materials. By Julia Poliscanova, Senior Director for Electric Vehicles and E-mobility at Transport & Environment. European car manufacturers have pledged to put millions of electric vehicles on the road by 2030. This requires substantial amounts of battery minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt. However, a recent Transport & Environment analysis reveals a stark reality: only a fifth of these materials have been secured. During the "Responsible Sourcing for the Automotive Industry" panel at the Raw Materials Summit in May, I highlighted three key areas where [...]
VA Erzberg and EIT RawMaterials launch the Net-Zero Iron Ore Challenge to transform Europe’s steel industry
Researchers and startups are invited to apply for the first VA Erzberg Innovation Challenge VA Erzberg Net-Zero Iron Ore Challenge seeks solutions in Innovative Siderite Processing & Carbonate Valorization Applications open until 29. September 2024 Berlin, 24.06.2024. VA Erzberg, Europe’s largest open-pit iron ore mine, in collaboration with EIT RawMaterials, the leading raw materials innovation and knowledge network and supported by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union (EU), launched the VA Erzberg Net-Zero Iron Ore Challenge – Innovative Siderite Processing & Carbonate Valorization. The initiative is an urgent call for startups, SMEs, [...]
Meet the winners of the Atlantic Copper Resource Open Innovation Challenge for Young Professionals!
In cooperation with EIT RawMaterials, Atlantic Copper invited master’s students, graduates, and young professionals to tackle a strategic opportunity in the copper metallurgy industry, covering all the expenses of the Open Innovation Challenge for Young Professionals. Extracting & utilising critical raw materials Participants were tasked with developing sustainable methods for extracting and valorising fluorspar and arsenic from the copper metallurgy industry streams. These two materials were added to the Critical Raw Material list (CRM) by the EU in 2023. During the challenge, participants were divided into five teams to develop recovery techniques while reflecting on market viability, ensuring practical [...]