Technology and market perspective for future Value Added Materials

needed in the future. The list includes
cobalt, gallium, indium and magnesium.
They are increasingly used for ‘emerging
technologies’ but are mined in only a few
countries such as China, Russia and Mongolia.
These countries could either manipulate
the supply of these critical materials or
take environmental action that may jeopardise
EU imports.
The experts identified another approach:
increased recycling of raw materials to
reduce demand side of the market. Therefore
one response to the raw materials
challenge is more research on how to recycle
technically-challenging products and
improve collection. Here again Value Added
Materials might be of use in the design
of such advanced recycling systems.
After recent problems with materials availability
from China, EU is working to secure
supplies of these minerals from outside the
EU, such as from Latin America, Africa and
Russia. The EU also started stockpiling— to
better profit from the material that we
have here. 43
Demand from emerging technologies (including
demand for rare earths) is expected
to increase significantly by 2030,
according to EU estimates. 44
Materials experts whom we interviewed
described this situation as influencing the
possibilities for large development of materials’
technologies. Our informants noted
the difficulties of replacing critical raw
materials which sets the stage for development
of VAMs’ market, especially in the
field of catalysts and materials for energy
storage. They also said that without a
technological breakthrough it will not be
possible to fully reduce the market need
for critical raw materials.
43
Andrea Maresi, press officer for EU Industry Commissioner
Antonio Tajani.
44
Report of the Ad hoc group on defining critical raw materials, June
2010, Brussels.
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/rawmaterials/files/docs/report-b_en.pdf
,
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/752
&format=HT
and
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/
263&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
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