The rising demand and limited supply of critical raw materials (CRMs) impair the ability to rapidly adopt technological change toward green and sustainable technologies, which directly affect the resilience of EU industries seeking to achieve Green Deal objectives for an equitable, zero-emission, and digitalized Europe. In response to these challenges, the European Commission aims to minimize the loss of secondary raw materials (SRM) and optimize their reuse across value chains. CE-RISE will develop and pilot an integrated framework and an ensuing resource information system to identify optimal solutions for the effective reuse, recovery, and/or recycling of materials by (a) defining a set of criteria (RE criteria) to evaluate the extent to which products and embedded components can be reused, repaired, refurbished and/or recycled; (b) incorporating information on RE criteria and material composition of products into the Digital product passport (DPP) to enable traceability of materials in the supply chain; (c) integrating DPP with information on the environmental footprint of products (PEF), socio-economic and environmental (SEE) impacts of RE processes; (d) enabling confidential and anonymized information sharing among actors throughout value chains; (e) providing open-access software application to disseminate information on the assessment of RE criteria, PEF and SEE impacts of products to all stakeholders including consumers and policymakers. The results will be piloted on four case studies. CE-RISE will contribute to bridging the digital divide in society by supplying affordable second-hand ICT devices, and supporting access to digital education and job opportunities. Ultimately, CE-RISE will foster a dynamic ecosystem geared toward prolonging the use of materials in the economy and stimulating circular business models to reduce waste generation while optimizing the reuse of SRMs.

ICARUS aims to demonstrate modular processing solutions at industrial scale to retrieve 95% of high-value raw materials from silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing, through eco-efficient processing, refining, and transformation of industrial silicon, graphite and silica waste streams. Industrial symbiosis will provide refined raw materials for further industrial high-end applications. Material closed-loop systems will enable a circular economy for silicon ingot and wafer manufacturers, potentially unlocking substantial volumes of raw materials: 9.600.000 t of silicon, 1.165.300 t of silica and 64.000 t of graphite by 2050. ICARUS will demonstrate: 3 innovative industrial pilots producing silicon, silica and graphite raw materials; 1 pilot converting silicon waste into full value industrial commodities: - Pretreated and purified silicon, silica and graphite raw materials (RESITEC), - Pyrometallurgical process using recylced silicon, silica and graphite for high purity silicon (NOSI), - Granular silicion feedstock for photovoltaic applications (ROSI), - Full value industrial commodities: green hydrogen, silica and silicates (LUX), for different high-end applications with strict raw material quality standards, to assess the technical and economic viability of these applications: - Si-photovoltaics (CEA) - Al-Si alloys (GRANGES) - Thermoelectric modules and generators (MMEX) - Lithium ion battery cells (CIDETEC, SGLBS) - Silicon carbide powders (FIVEN) - Fine-grained graphite (SGL) The R&D team consists of internationally recognised partners, SINTEF, CEA, INP, UCY and CIDETEC, that will support with services for more efficient implementation of innovations developed in the project. Technological feasibility will be assessed by the industry partners, while BIFA will carry out environmental assessment, CHEMCON will conduct economic and market viability assessment for the ICARUS value chain. AYMING will be in charge of dissemination and communication activities.

QUASAR will develop and implement solutions for a systematic collection and management methodology and decision tools for EOL-PV-modules based on a holistic approach between all parts and actors across the EOL supply chain including concepts of reverse logistic technologies, AI/machine learning, product lifecycle information management (PLIM) based on digital twins, and best practices for sorting, warehouse operations, testing and repair/reuse. EOL decision-making will be supported through the delivery of a digital product passport thanks to smart sensor tags as well as rapid, non-destructive testing methods for assessing EOL-PV condition for reuse/repair/recycling in the field and at waste treatment facilities. Repair technology solutions will be provided, along with guidelines for second-life warranty, quality thresholds, product reliability, labelling and tracking. QUASAR will upscale and demonstrate two emerging recycling technologies based on delamination by controlled thermal and chemical treatment [pilot A] and waterjet delamination [pilot B], targeting EOL-PV recycling rates of 70-90% for silicon, metals, glass and polymers with high purity for reuse in the PV industry, as well as semi-conductor industry, speciality chemicals, float glass, or other products. Material closed-loop systems will be implemented to enable a circular economy for the PV industry. By 2050, from the upscaling and worldwide deployment of both recycling technologies, substantial volumes of secondary raw materials will be unlocked: 220,000 tons of silicon, 5,200 tons of silver, 62,000 tons of copper and 4,700,000 tons of glass, accompanied with 421 million tons of CO2 savings. To achieve its specific objectives, QUASAR gathers a multidisciplinary consortium involving commercial actors from across the entire EOL supply chain: PV module manufacturers, utility scale PV system operators, collectors, recyclers, and end users of recycled secondary raw materials.

Worldwide urgent action is needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the consequences of climate change. French deeptech startup ROSI is committed to a circular economy of Photovoltaics (PV), which is decisive to render PV sustainable and to re-capture the PV value chain for Europe. Presently, several high value raw materials composing PV modules, mainly silicon and silver, which are produced through high energy consuming and CO2 emission processes, suffer great value loss, because: 1. Sawing process to obtain silicon wafers from silicon ingots discards >40% of silicon in forms of nano/micrometer particles, disposed as industrial waste; 2. No valorization of high-value raw materials such as silicon and silver in end-of-life (EOL) PV modules is carried out. The proprietary technological innovations and industrial know-how of ROSI lead to a full valorization of the raw materials from PV-waste, including: 1. Reconditioning of silicon from PV-waste for reintegration into various industries including PV, electronics, and silicone; 2. Non-destructive extraction of silver through non-toxic, low-cost and high yield process. For fast and high-quality innovation deployment, ROSI positions itself as an operator carrying out recycling activities of PV-waste in the value chain. Its realization through co-investment with industrial partners into Joint-Ventures (JV) is the scalability booster. The global development strategy of ROSI is based on construction of a series of PV-waste upcycling sites and carrying out of continuous RDTI (Research, development, technology, innovation) activities to maximize the added value of upcycled raw materials. The roadmap implementation will contribute directly to EU Green Deal and sustainability goals, as well as to the recovery of European sovereignty on the PV and raw materials value chain. The vision of ROSI is to become global-leader in circular economy of PV in 5-10 years – a high-risk and courageous vision!