Critical raw materials: a strategic challenge for Europe
05/02/2025
Essential resources
Our modern societies rely heavily on essential raw materials that are crucial to the economy of a region or country. These resources are indispensable for key technologies such as batteries, smartphones, defence equipment, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. However, their criticality lies in a delicate balance between their economic importance and their limited availability.
Critical raw materials (CRMs) are at the heart of current technological and environmental challenges. In Europe, where 98% of rare earth elements and 87% of lithium are imported, this dependency exposes the economy and strategic industries to geopolitical, environmental, and economic risks.
How can we secure their supply while preserving our planet?
What is a critical raw material ?
A raw material is considered critical due to several factors. :
- A geographically concentrated production, limited to a few countries or regions.
- Geopolitical risks that could disrupt the supply.
- A growing demand driven by industrial and technological transitions.
In 2023, the European Commission identified a list of 34 essential raw materials critical to ecological and digital transitions, as well as to the space and defence industries, including 32 critical materials. Indeed, copper and nickel were not considered critical in this assessment but were added to the list as strategic materials. Fifteen of the raw materials identified as critical are also classified as strategic due to their importance for key technologies.
A raw material is considered strategic due to several factors:
- The number of strategic technologies that use a raw material as an input.
- The quantity of raw materials used as inputs in the production of strategic technologies.
- The global demand expected for relevant strategic technologies.
Identification of raw materials as critical and/or strategic by the European Commission (European Commission, 2023; European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2024)
* Aluminium was not considered strategic according to the European Commission (2023), but it was included in the list (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2024).
Examples of raw material usage
- Smartphone and laptop batteries: lithium, cobalt
- Solar panels: silicon, tellurium
- Electric vehicle batteries: lithium, nickel, cobalt
- Household appliances: platinum, palladium
Main extraction areas
- China: rare earth elements, natural graphite.
- Democratic Republic of Congo: cobalt
- Chile, Argentina, Bolivia: lithium
- Australia: lithium, nickel
- South Africa: platinum group metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium)
Challenges related to critical raw materials
Environmental impacts
- Deforestation and habitat destruction: a major threat to biodiversity.
- Water and soil pollution: contamination by heavy metals and chemicals.
- High CO₂ emissions: high energy consumption for extraction and refining.
Social impacts
- Child labour and informal exploitation: prevalent, particularly in the DRC.
- Precarious working conditions: low wages, increased health risks.
- Forced displacement: expropriation of local communities without adequate compensation.
European initiatives to secure resources
Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA): European legislation adopted in 2023 aimed at reducing Europe’s dependency on imports of critical raw materials, by setting production and recycling targets to strengthen strategic autonomy. The CRMA also includes a supply diversification strategy, designed to reduce geographical dependence by developing mining projects within the European territory and creating strategic partnerships with other countries.
International Round Table on Materials Criticality (IRTC): An international network of experts in critical raw materials. The IRTC organises international expert meetings, an annual conference, publishes joint research, and offers training on defining and assessing criticality, global trends, and risk reduction options.
EIT RawMaterials: An EU-supported initiative that promotes innovation in recycling, the substitution of critical materials, and the training of professionals specialising in the raw materials sector.
Horizon Europe: An EU funding programme that supports research projects, particularly on rare metals and criticality.
European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA): A gathering of industrial, academic, and institutional stakeholders to secure the supply of critical raw materials and promote innovation in their management.
The circular economy
The circular economy plays a crucial role in securing the supply of critical raw materials, particularly through recycling and eco-design. These two approaches aim to reduce dependence on extracted raw materials, limit environmental impact, and strengthen the resilience of supply chains, optimise production processes to minimise waste, and design products that are easy to dismantle.
The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) emphasises these solutions to ensure a more sustainable management of essential resources, while strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy. It sets a target for 25% of critical materials to be recycled by 2030 and establishes requirements regarding the environmental footprint of CRMs, which must be based on scientific methods and established life cycle assessment standards, including a verification process.
The expertise of WeLOOP
Conducting criticality studies of raw materials
Development of strategies aimed at mitigating regulatory, geopolitical, social, and environmental risks
Partner of the International Round Table on Materials Criticality (IRTC) project
Conducting life cycle analysis studies of innovative critical raw materials recycling processes
Organisation of IRTC-training sessions
Partner in European projects related to the criticality of raw materials challenges
Would you like to learn more about our expertise in criticality?
Contact us at info@weloop.org