Most important critical raw materials for EU defence sector are?
EDA’s Mat CapTech and IF CEEDs on the most important critical raw materials for the functioning of the EU defence sector
- Details
On March 15th, 2022, EDA's Mat CapTech and IF CEED organized an international online webinar "Circularity of Critical Raw Materials" addressing the critical raw materials (CRM) importance for the defence sector.
Workshop experts identified key critical raw materials in the defence sector, by focusing on their circularity, supply chain and environmental constraints. Optimization of current production processes, material innovation, and alternative technologies that require different materials was also discussed.
More than 70 materials experts and stakeholders from the EU Member States and other countries, along with SiEnE representatives, attended the workshop.
The European Defence Agency (EDA) Materials CapTech and the Incubation Forum for Circular Economy in European Defence (IF CEED) jointly organized a workshop “Circularity of Critical Raw Materials“. The workshop was held on March 15, 2022, online.
The purpose was the identification of the most important critical raw materials – CRM in the defence sector. CRMs have been identified by the European Commission as those with high supply risk and of high importance to the EU economy (e.g., electronics, environmental technologies, the automotive industry, the aerospace industry, etc.). The last, fourth list from 2020, contains more than 30 CRMs (only 14 CRM in 2011), including those that are of high importance to the energy sector, e.g., lithium and cobalt.
During the discussion, experts focused on the circularity of CRMs (reuse, recyclability, etc.), supply chains and environmental constraints (REACH). The optimization of current production processes, material innovation, and alternative technologies that require different materials was discussed. One of the solutions to reduce the use of CRM is to replace the CRMs with circular materials with similar capabilities that are available in the EU. Consequently, this would create entirely new value chains that require time and financial input.
By introducing a circular economy in the defence area, EDA with the support of its Member States aims to reduce the environmental impact (reduce the carbon footprint) and strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy by increasing resource recycling, reducing waste, and reducing Europe’s dependence on imported strategic materials and components. To address these challenges, IF CEED was established aiming to incubate joint projects and their respective consortia, enable innovative solutions transition and new business models, and make proposals to mitigate the environmental impact of the defence sector.
The online workshop was attended by more than 70 materials and stakeholder experts from the EU Member States and other countries, including partnership SiEnE representatives.
Partnership SiEnE represents a point of contact to establish and foster international collaboration between Slovenian stakeholders and international partners on energy-related topics (civil use, military use or dual-use) through different international defence programs (e.g., EDA’s EnE CapTech, IF CEED, CF SEEDS), projects and global defence value chains.
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