Pascal Leroy, Director General of WEEE Forum introduced the FutuRaM project on the second day of Raw Materials Week during a high level session on the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC).
Dear chairwoman
Ladies and gentlemen
I need not remind you that the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and China’s recent decision to ban the export of critical materials, such as gallium and antimony, have again exposed Europe’s vulnerability; we remain highly dependent on third countries for the materials we need for the digital, circular and energy transition. The CRM Regulation is one of the most crucial initiatives to address these challenges and make the European economy more resilient. However, this is just the start of the journey. A lot remains to be done.
FutuRaM, a Horizon Europe project that researches the future availability of secondary raw materials and the potential to recover them from the waste streams, is making big strides in the design of a materials knowledge base with a focus on critical raw materials in six waste streams: electrical and electronic equipment, batteries, vehicles, construction and demolition waste, slags and ashes, and mining waste.
FutuRaM is modelling the stocks and flows of the critical raw materials and is, ipso facto, supporting the European Commission in putting the CRM Act into practice. FutuRaM is also aligning recycling projects using the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources. FutuRaM is testing the UNFC method through 19 case studies, in six waste streams and in multiple Member States, taking into consideration economic, technological, geopolitical, regulatory, social and environmental criteria. It is encouraging to see that 30 out of 170 applications for Strategic Projects revolve around recycling. We expect more secondary raw materials projects in future iterations.
Soraya Heuss-Aβbichler will talk about these things later in this session.
But before I hand over to Charlotte, I’d like to explain what we can do to ensure that the data we collect in FutuRaM, the methods we design, the lessons we learn, can be translated into tangible policy actions.
First of all, in order to foster consistency, comparability and transparency of the collection of statistics about the quantities and stocks and flows of CRMs in the urban mine, it is crucially important that we periodically update those urban mine statistics across Europe, using uniform statistical methods as well as standardised sampling and analysis protocols, preferably co-ordinated by one entity in the EU. Uniform sampling of CRMs in waste streams is one important ingredient of the UNFC method to develop the CRM recovery infrastructure. We believe that the European Commission should consider funding this standardised sampling and analysis initiative and enshrine it in secondary legislation under the CRM Act, for example in the form of an Implementing Act.
The CRM Observatories that are being set up across the EU need up-to-date urban mine data. The FutuRaM consortium is in constant dialogue with the Observatories that have been set up in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. If we do not develop uniform CRM data we can have confidence in, the Member States will not be singing from the same hymn sheet, which will slow down investments in CRM recovery.
Second, we need the critical raw materials to digitalise everything we do. But it also works the other way around: the digital product passports that are being developed will identify which CRMs are sitting in which components of the electronic products. I am convinced that the DPP will be a game changer across the board. The entry into force of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which mandates DPPs, six months ago was a very good thing.
And third: the upcoming WEEE Act, and possibly other specific product legislation, could be another channel through which these things can be regulated. We call on the European Commission to explore which legislative and non-legislative instruments can foster the sustainability and circularity of critical raw material supply chains.
Thank you.