Various activities address the WEEE value chain in order to reduce waste generation and enhance the sustainable resource management through use of recycled materials instead of their virgin counterparts. While the system for metals recycling is already well established, the rising volumes of waste plastics point to stalemates in the current plastics economy, which hamper its shift to a more circular model. Although there are individual efforts to improve the collection and recycling of WEEE plastics, the plastics value chain is still too fragmented and WEEE recycled plastics seem unattractive material for the end-user. To shift towards circular economy a systematic transformation is required, involving all actors in the value chain and encompassing the entire lifecycle of plastic materials. While substantially reducing the WEEE plastics generation and enhancing the use of recycled plastics in new applications, PolyCE will demonstrate the feasibility of circular plastics supply and value chain. In particular, PolyCE will elaborate harmonized set of technical requirements addressing the entire value chain and develop grade system for recycled plastics according to their material properties and final application suitability. Accordingly, PolyCE will strengthen the market for recycled plastics through an online platform integrating the different plastic grades. In parallel, the technical and economic feasibility as well as environmental benefits of using recycled plastics will be validated in several electronics demonstrators. In addition, PolyCE will provide Guidelines for designing new electronics products with recycled plastics. The project’s impact will be scaled up by involving target cities and their green public procurement initiatives; by EU-wide information and awareness raising campaigns. PolyCE will establish a feedback loop from the research activities, provide policy input regarding technical feasibilities and policy conflicts from technical perspective

The ProSUM project will establish a European network of expertise on secondary sources of critical raw materials (CRMs), vital to today’s high-tech society. ProSUM directly supports the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials and its Strategic Implementation Plan calling for the creation of a European raw materials knowledge base. Data on primary and secondary raw materials are available in Europe, but scattered amongst a variety of institutions including government agencies, universities, NGOs and industry. By establishing a EU Information Network (EUIN), the project will coordinate efforts to collect secondary CRM data and collate maps of stocks and flows for materials and products of the “urban mine”. The scope is the particularly relevant sources for secondary CRMs: Electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles, batteries and mining tailings. The project will construct a comprehensive inventory identifying, quantifying and mapping CRM stocks and flows at national and regional levels across Europe. Via a user-friendly, open-access Urban Mine Knowledge Data Platform (EU-UMKDP), it will communicate the results online and combine them with primary raw materials data from the on-going Minerals4EU project. To maintain and expand the EU-UMKDP in the future, it will provide update protocols, standards and recommendations for additional statistics and improved reporting on CRM’s in waste flows required. ProSUM – “prosum” is Latin for “I am useful” – provides a factual basis for policy makers to design appropriate legislation, academia to define research priorities and to identify innovation opportunities in recovering CRMs for the recycling industry. The EUIN enables interdisciplinary collaboration, improves dissemination of knowledge and supports policy dialogues. A consortium of 17 partners, representing research institutes, geological surveys and industry, with excellence in all above domains will deliver this ambitious project.

The project Towards a World Forum on Raw Materials (FORAM) will develop and set up an EU-based platform of international experts and stakeholders that will advance the idea of a World Forum on Raw Materials (WFRM) and enhance the international cooperation on raw material policies and investments. The global use of mineral resources has drastically increased and supply chains have become ever more complex. A number of global initiatives and organizations have been contributing to knowledge and information transfer, including the EC, UNEP International Resource Panel, the World Resources Forum, the World Material Forum, the OECD and others. It is widely felt that improved international resource transparency and governance would be beneficial for all, since it would lead to stability, predictability, resource-efficiency and hence a better foundation for competitiveness on a sustainable basis. The FORAM project will contribute to consolidate the efforts towards a more joint and coherent approach towards raw materials policies and investments worldwide, by closely working with the relevant stakeholders in industry, European and international organisations, governments, academia and civil society. Synergies with relevant EU Member States initiatives will be explored and fostered. The project will in particular seek to engage the participation of G20 Member countries and other countries active in the mining and other raw materials sectors, so that experiences will be shared and understanding of all aspects of trade in raw materials will be increased. By implementing this project an EU-based platform of international key experts and stakeholders is created, related to the entire raw materials value chain. This platform will work together on making the current complex maze of existing raw material related initiatives more effective. As such, the FORAM project will be the largest collaborative effort for raw materials strategy cooperation on a global level so far.