Europe Could Halve Critical Raw Material Imports by Recycling Waste

Innovative projects across Europe are turning everyday waste into valuable resources, demonstrating the potential of a circular economy. In Bratislava, cigarette butts are being transformed into asphalt, while apricot pits in Lower Austria yield vegan sausages and cosmetics. Meanwhile, old chip packaging in Schwechat is being processed into fresh crude oil.

These initiatives highlight the vast, untapped potential of our waste streams. However, Europe, despite its political declarations, remains far from achieving a truly circular economy. "We are not making decisive progress," stated Hans-Peter Schmid, a partner at Arthur D. Little in Austria, noting that the economy largely operates on an industrial model: raw materials enter factories, finished goods exit, and most items disappear into landfills or incineration after use.

Globally, humanity consumed 500 billion tons of fresh raw materials in the past five years, as much as in the entire 20th century. Recycled materials accounted for only 7% of global resource use, with the circularity rate actually decreasing since 2018, according to the Circularity Gap Report. While the EU is active in collecting and recycling, only a fraction of secondary raw materials re-enter production. Brussels aims to raise the circularity rate to 23% within a few years, a challenging but vital goal for a continent with limited natural resources seeking greater independence from external suppliers.

This push for independence is particularly crucial for critical materials like lithium and cobalt, which Europe currently imports from a few countries. A study from the FutuRaM research project estimates that Europe could reduce its imports of these critical materials by more than half by 2050. The necessary resources are already present within Europe, contained in discarded batteries, electronics, end-of-life vehicles, and demolished buildings. However, Europe is currently losing these valuable materials too easily. Nearly half of all electronic devices are not recycled domestically, old vehicles often end up in Africa, and Europe's metal scrap is increasingly being acquired by China, resulting in the loss of approximately 500,000 tons of critical raw materials in 2022 alone.

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We are not making decisive progress.