Waste could provide half of Europe’s critical material demand by 2050
"Our mindset needs to shift to think of ‘secondary’ sources of critical raw materials as the new primary source."
Developing waste recovery systems could help Europe meet half of its critical material demand through recycling by 2050.
This is according to an EU-funded expert report which assessed Europe’s ‘urban mine – 42 critical elements contained in various waste streams. These include electronic waste, vehicles, batteries, wind turbines, building construction and demolition debris, slags and ashes.
