Pascal Leroy, as Director General of the WEEE Forum, could you explain why FutuRaM can be considered a strategic project for Europe, rather than just a research project on waste?
The EU has moved from discussing CRMs to imposing binding benchmarks under the Critical Raw Materials Act for extraction, processing and recycling, including a 25% recycling benchmark for strategic materials by 2030; meeting these requires knowing where secondary CRMs are, in what quantities and under which conditions they can be recovered. FutuRaM responds by building a Secondary Raw Materials (SRM) knowledge base and UNFC‑based assessment framework for key waste streams (batteries, WEEE, vehicles, mining waste, slags/ashes, construction & demolition), directly supporting implementation of CRMA obligations on recovery and circularity. This makes FutuRaM part of a broader security‑of‑supply strategy: reducing dependence on a few non‑EU suppliers for materials essential to the green, digital and defence transitions, and aligning secondary resource planning with primary raw materials policy.
Read also the Special report FutuRaM
What knowledge gap does it aim to fill with regard to critical raw materials, the circular economy and strategic autonomy?
Before FutuRaM, the EU had fragmented, non‑comparable data on CRMs in waste streams, with limited ability to link product stocks, flows, recycling performance and future availability scenarios in a coherent, open framework. FutuRaM explicitly aims to “improve the raw materials knowledge base” by harmonising methodologies, reporting structures and guidance on SRM/CRM availability and recoverability up to 2050, integrating economic, technological, regulatory, social and environmental dimensions. In CRM and circular‑economy terms, the gap is threefold: (i) Where and in what concentrations CRMs are present across the six waste streams today and in future (stocks and flows, including WEEE). (ii) How much is technically and economically recoverable under different policy and technology scenarios, and which projects are viable when assessed via UNFC. And (iii) How to make this information accessible (e.g. via an open knowledge base and upgraded Urban Mine Platform) so it can guide real‑world investment and policy choices rather than remain in isolated studies.
How can the project’s results be used in concrete terms by policymakers, consortia and industrial supply chains?
Policymakers:
- Use the SRM knowledge base and 2050 CRM outlooks to set realistic yet ambitious targets for CRM recovery, eco‑design, collection and recycling in implementing the CRMA (e.g. Articles on recovery from extractive waste and products containing CRMs) and in revising waste and product legislation (WEEE, batteries, ELV, construction).
- Prioritise waste streams and technologies with the highest recoverable CRM potential when allocating EU funding, designating Strategic Projects under the CRMA, or designing Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) support measures for low‑carbon, EU‑origin materials.
Producer responsibility organisations:
- Use FutuRaM data to identify where higher collection, pre‑treatment or specialised recovery would yield the greatest CRM gains per euro invested, and build business cases for new facilities or upgrades.
- Rely on UNFC‑based project classifications and case studies to de‑risk investment discussions with regulators, investors and technology providers, showing that CRM recovery projects meet environmental, social and economic viability criteria.
Industrial supply chains (OEMs, recyclers, material users):
- For OEMs and downstream users, feed FutuRaM’s scenarios into procurement and design strategies: e.g. anticipating future secondary supply, designing products for disassembly and CRM recovery, or planning offtake agreements for recycled CRMs.
- For recyclers and processing industries, use the dataset to benchmark available CRM‑rich waste streams, decide where to site plants, and align investments with CRMA Strategic Projects and future IAA procurement rules favouring EU‑origin, low‑carbon materials.
After the Critical Raw Materials Act and the first European Strategic Projects, what role can FutuRaM play, also in light of the recent Industrial Accelerator Act?
The CRMA is now in force and sets quantitative benchmarks, establishes “Strategic Projects” across the value chain, and obliges Member States and operators to improve recovery of CRMs from waste, especially in sections dealing with extractive and manufacturing waste. FutuRaM positions itself, in its own CRMA commentary, as providing the knowledge base and UNFC‑aligned tools needed to (i) identify which waste streams and projects should be prioritised and (ii) supply high‑quality data to support the designation and monitoring of Strategic Projects, notably in Article 27 and related provisions. The proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) seeks to rebuild Europe’s industrial base and requires specific minimum shares of low‑carbon, often EU‑origin, materials in public projects (e.g. low‑carbon steel, aluminium, cement), directly increasing demand for reliable EU secondary material streams. In this context, FutuRaM can: Help quantify how much of this demand could credibly be met from EU secondary sources and under what timelines, strengthening the case for linking IAA implementation to circular‑economy and CRM‑recovery investments. Provide evidence to integrate raw‑materials considerations (including CRM recovery from WEEE, batteries and construction waste) into IAA‑driven industrial planning and into future updates of both CRMA and related product/waste legislation. In other words, FutuRaM is an enabling layer: it translates the high‑level ambitions of CRMA and IAA into a map of where Europe’s secondary CRMs actually are, how fast they will become available, and which concrete projects should be pursued first.
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