“The list of critical raw materials is expanding because we lack the capacity to produce these materials ourselves, and because the climate crisis compels us to transform industry to achieve sustainable development goals,” Patricia Cordoba, researcher at IDAEA-CSIC.
Current mining operations at Cerro Colorado, Huelva | César Muñoz
The energy transition, digitalization, automation, and sustainable mobility are among the key objectives defining our 21st-century economy, which is moving towards decarbonization in a historic shift. The European Union’s target under the European Green Deal for 2050 is to achieve a net-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy. This goal progresses in tandem with the availability of a set of essential minerals known as critical raw materials (CRM), of which only a small fraction is produced in Europe. Yet, 70% of European industry depends directly or indirectly on their availability, according to the European Economic and Social Committee.
Minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel are essential for achieving the performance and energy density of batteries, just as copper, aluminum, and rare earth elements are crucial for renewable energy technologies and electrical grids. Consequently, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that demand for these materials will quadruple by 2040 and increase even further by 2050 if climate neutrality is to be achieved.
Total demand for minerals for renewable energy technologies by scenario, 2020 compared to 2040 | IEA (2021)
The growing demand, combined with limited supply within the continent, has placed the European Union in a highly complex position. On one hand, it seeks to develop its strategic autonomy and reindustrialize key sectors; on the other, the extraction or recycling of critical materials remains marginal.
Understanding the reasons behind this situation requires a broad and complex analysis, as well as the willingness of all social actors to reduce dependence on imports from regions with vastly different environmental and labor standards compared to the EU. This issue directly relates to historical, political, environmental, technical, and social factors.
A changing global context
“European mining ceased to be self-sufficient from the 1970s onwards when Europe recognized the need to implement strict environmental legislation in areas such as air quality, water resource protection, and waste management. This shift was partly due to pressure to mitigate the negative effects of mining on the environment,” explains Patricia Córdoba, a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), whose research focuses on reducing the environmental impact of industrial activities. “These contrasts sharply with countries like China, where environmental regulations have been much more lenient, allowing the country to boost its economy and achieve sovereignty over some of these resources.”
The extraction of critical minerals is highly concentrated in a few countries. The Democratic Republic of the Congo supplies 70% of cobalt, Chile provides 30% of copper, and China produces 60% of rare earth elements while also processing nearly 90% of them. Long-term policies in more authoritarian and centralized states have favored market dominance in strategic raw materials. As a result, China has established an almost monopolistic role in the renewable energy and electric vehicle industries.
Geode samples of carbonates and copper oxides, malachite and azurite, National Museum of Natural Sciences
The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the arrival of Donald Trump in the United States have exposed the risks of external supply dependence and the vulnerabilities of global trade.
“Although Europe had been grappling with fluctuations in CRMs for years, in 2000, it began strategically addressing the challenges related to accessing these essential resources, culminating in the European Raw Materials Initiative in 2008.”
This initiative aimed to ensure a secure and sustainable supply, promote sourcing within the European Union, and encourage the recycling of these resources. One of its most notable actions was the creation of a list of non-energy critical raw materials, first published in 2011 and updated every three years. The list started with 14 elements and, in its latest 2023 update, includes 34, with 17 flagged as high-risk due to their expected exponential demand growth.
“The list is expanding because we lack the capacity to produce these materials ourselves, and the climate crisis compels us to transform industry to achieve sustainable development goals.”
List of essential raw materials | European Council (2024)
In this context, and in response to challenges related to ensuring secure and sustainable supply chains, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union approved the Critical Raw Materials Act on April 11, 2024. This law sets clear and ambitious targets for 2030, including ensuring that 10% of critical raw materials extraction occurs within Europe, 40% of their processing takes place domestically, and 25% of supply needs come from recycling technologies.
This commitment is necessary but faces multiple challenges, according to Córdoba. For instance, emerging recycling and recovery technologies for critical raw materials are not yet sufficiently developed to meet current demand. Their large-scale industrial implementation requires technological, environmental, and economic validation.
“Some technologies never reach the market. Additionally, long-term investment in research and development is difficult to justify in a market where returns may take years to materialize.”
Another factor is that many products are not designed for easy material recovery. They are often created with functionality and production costs in mind rather than sustainability. For example, some products contain adhesives or coatings that further complicate material recovery. The lack of clear design-for-recycling standards exacerbates the issue, making the transition to a circular economy even more challenging.
Technological solutions for CRM recovery
The RECOPPs project, coordinated by an IDAEA researcher, illustrates science’s ability to provide innovative solutions to societal challenges. The project focuses on recovering CRMs such as bismuth and antimony from waste generated during primary copper production—valuable materials that would otherwise end up in landfills.
“Our clear objective is to demonstrate the industrial-scale feasibility of mineral resource circularity,” says the team at RECOPPs. The project aims to maximize material recovery while minimizing environmental impact.
Led by IDAEA-CSIC and involving a consortium that includes the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), the Water Technology Center (CETAQUA), Eurecat, the Instytut Metali Nieżelaznych (IMN), and Atlantic Copper, the project has successfully validated two technological solutions at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7.
“The next step will be to further develop the project to enable commercial exploitation of this technology and reach TRL 9.”
Pilot-scale facilities used to bring both technological solutions to a TRL of 7 | RECOPPs
Mining: a “necessary evil”
Advancements in recycling technologies and compliance with the new EU law would reduce the environmental impact of extraction activities, which, nevertheless, remain indispensable. Consequently, the CRM Act urges member states to draft a National Exploration Program to identify reserves of these materials. It also simplifies permitting and financing for projects categorized as strategic, whether for extraction, processing, or recycling. However, as RECOPPs researchers warn, concerns arise about transparency and environmental impact assessments.
This March 2025, the European Commission announced support for 47 critical raw material mining projects, seven of which are in Spain. These include three sites in Extremadura, two in Andalusia, Castile-La Mancha, and Galicia.
Sergio Carrero, geochemist and researcher at IDAEA, believes that achieving the goal of extraction within European borders requires responsible mining to minimize environmental impacts, not only during exploitation but also in the closure process. This demands that companies adopt strict measures, comply with current regulations, and use the best available techniques. “For example, the flotation method, which consumes large amounts of water, must be optimized to reduce water use in regions where resources are scarce.”
Mining, which on a human scale is irreversible because deposits take millions of years to form, “is a necessary evil.”
The researcher points out that “facing this reality in Europe means acknowledging a deeply ingrained mindset, which can be understood through the concept of ‘Not in my backyard.’ In other words, we want the energy transition and digital development, but we prefer the materials to come from other parts of the world.”
Ruins of early 20th-century mining operations in Río Tinto, Huelva | César Muñoz
To avoid past mistakes, it is crucial to act responsibly from the outset. This requires close collaboration between research institutions, administrations, and companies to monitor the processes occurring in mining areas, the ecosystems surrounding them, and to establish effective control mechanisms.
The future of Europe’s energy transition will depend on this, but even more on its ability to develop sustainable technologies for the recovery and recycling of these critical minerals, as well as on its capacity to legislate effectively and realistically.
Iria Sambruno
Communication and Outreach | IDAEA
