Why a future, more resilient Europe requires circularity

A recent two-year collaboration of stakeholders from a variety of sectors found that Sweden and the EU will need circular material flows to fully secure necessary metals and minerals in the coming years.

14 Jan 2025
Our opinion

Sustainably sourced materials are essential for the future of the European Union, and more must be done to better support circularity in Europe. That’s according to Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademien (IVA) – the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. The findings are the result of a long-running project exploring how Sweden and Europe could guarantee future supplies of metals and minerals. And Ragn-Sells was part of the team that put it together.  

The IVA aims to promote cooperation between the fields of business, research, and government. So, representatives from many different companies and organisations were invited to participate when the Roadmap for metals and minerals project began in late 2022. Their combined efforts produced four reports published between February and October of 2024.

For Anders Kihl, Director of Strategy and R&D for Ragn-Sells, who represented the company as part of the project’s expert working group on circular flows, there was an obvious appeal to participate. The green transition will increase demand for metals and minerals, supplies of which are especially vulnerable in Europe since most come from outside the region. 

– This is a really relevant topic, and it's good to have an approach like IVA’s, which has a very broad overview of all aspects, including circularity. On a personal level, I thought it was important to have more people understand the connection between circularity and resilience, explains Kihl.

The challenges of recycling metals & minerals

A major influence on the Roadmap for Metals and Minerals was the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, which the European Parliament passed into law during the project’s development. The act not only identifies a number of strategically important raw materials – including many metals and minerals – but also sets a goal for 25 percent of those materials to be from recycled sources by 2030. And many project discussions focused on how the different sectors could work together to meet such an ambitious target. 

Kihl recalls how some members of the working group were initially uninformed regarding how difficult it was to recycle. They didn’t know that most modern products, like smartphones and tablets, are not designed for circularity, making the process of reclaiming their materials, like the valuable metals and minerals packed inside, incredibly difficult and complex.  

– It was surprising that the other stakeholders were so unaware of the recycling industry’s fundamental challenges. There are barriers that are obvious to us but totally unknown to others. So, in that sense, it was good that we took part in this project so we could share our point of view, says Kihl.

"As long as virgin materials are more profitable than recycled materials, virgin extraction will always win"

Anders Kihl, Director of Strategy and R&D at Ragn-Sells

For his part, Kihl admits he had been unaware of the challenges manufacturers face when exporting to the rest of the world. Entering different markets means ensuring products meet different standards for circularity and using different types of reporting on sustainability.

However, the underlying factor that prevents circular solutions from being adopted on a wider scale is pricing. Since environmental impact is not reflected in the costs of materials, recycling can seem to be more expensive than extracting from nature. For now. 

– As long as virgin materials are more profitable than recycled materials, virgin extraction will always win. The key is to level the playing field. When you do that, then it makes sense, and more recycling will happen, Kihl explains.  

The key to a resilient green transition

The Roadmap for Metals and Minerals project makes several recommendations for both the EU and individual countries like Sweden. It suggests steps such as levelling the price competition between recycled and virgin materials but also simplifying material reuse and recycling. Other suggestions include updating waste management regulations, as well as directly stimulating supply and demand for recycled materials. 

As Kihl explains, the IVA project’s recommendations are designed to help meet the goals of the Critical Raw Materials Act but also ensure that the supply of raw materials needed for the green transition in Europe won’t be distributed by unforeseen circumstances. Geopolitical and global events like the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of such resiliency.  

– We need to build batteries, windmills, and solar panels. All that requires materials. If we can maintain the flow of materials no matter what, we’ll have a resilient transition, he says. 

It may seem like a lot of progress still needs to be made. But Kihl is hopeful and sees the IVA’s project as a step in the right direction.   

– More people are now aware of how important recycling is for resilience. And while there are barriers that need to be overcome, they’re now better known because of this project, he says.

 

Explore the Roadmap for Metals and Minerals on the IVA website for yourself. The first report, Challenges for meeting increased demand for metals and minerals, is already available to download and read in English. 

 

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