Building a Resilient and Sustainable EU Resource System

When we talk about the EU’s serenity, resilience, and sustainability in raw materials, the data tells a challenging story.

Our circular material use rate is only 12%, and that figure includes everything—clothing, plastics, and other non-critical materials. Progress has been slow: an increase of just 0.5% in the latest reporting period.

For the materials that matter most, the situation is even more concerning:

- 🪙 Metals and metal ores: ~25% recycling rate

- 🔋 Microelectronics, batteries, magnets: often 1% or less

- ♻️ CO₂ emissions: still far from where we need to be

Meanwhile, Europe’s economy increasingly depends on strategic and critical raw materials, yet we lack effective systems for collection, recycling, and reprocessing. Too often, decisions are driven by short-term cost rather than long-term resilience.

A striking example: over 50% of EU aluminium scrap is exported, primarily to Asia and the US, instead of being recycled locally.

This is why the WEEE Directives (WEEE Forum) and similar initiatives are more essential than ever. Strong, well-designed regulation is not a burden—it’s a strategic necessity for Europe’s industrial future. If the EU wants true resilience, we must scale up circularity, invest in recovery and recycling systems of CRMs, and ensure our critical materials stay within European value chains. 

The time to act is now. ⌛ 

A quick takeaway from today’s EIT RawMaterials Circular and Green Metals Forum SIGN in Düsseldorf, where I had the privilege to participate. It was an excellent opportunity to connect science, industry, and policy.