FIC-FIGHTERS is a local democracy project. It is the search for new economic models deliberately agreed to manage of waste that harms the natural and cultural heritage. It is a space for discussion on the adoption of alternatives for wastes that has been accumulating near our cities for decades. The project will involve different local actors, industries, authorities, SMEs, RTD centers, and universities to inclusively scale up to TRL6-7 waste recovery processes under the premises of the circular economy, focusing on the valorization of phosphogypsum waste (PG) to generate sustainable raw materials for use in the paper, cement, batteries, fertilizers and detergents industries. For 48 months, the different actors, in cooperation with the CCRI, will be involved in making the new circular business models a reality. The project will: 1) Build a mobile pilot plant (TRL7) based on optimised results and digital twin of the processes to demonstrate the sustainable production of raw materials (sodium sulfate, REE and P, aluminum hydroxide, ammonium sulfate and precipitated calcium carbonate) for different industries, starting from phosphogypsum and other wastes. 2) Create a PG forum for local discussions and develop local workshops in each of the 6 case studies, including citizen participation, addressing socio-economic, environmental and regulation aspects of the new circular business models developed to become a reality and reaching trust and acceptance. 3) Address the flexibility and replicability of the valorization processes by involving 7 case studies and create the first known PG Exploitation Portal aiming to identify, characterise, and reach all European cities with same problematic. 4) Contribute to knowledge exchange in clustering and CCRI events; creating a Community of Practice and making the results of the project publicly available and exploitable, addressing IP protection. 5) Provide guidelines to reach circularity based on LCA, LCC, social and H&S studies.

The European Union has underexploited potential to produce critical raw materials (CRM) and special metals, as stated in the Study on the EU’s list of Critical Raw Materials (2020). Concretely, the battery sector is considered as a key strategic sector for the EU due to the increased use of batteries in different important sectors such as electric mobility. Thus, METALLICO proposal presents a new opportunity for the European Union. It is composed by an strategic consortium along the value chain, including mining and industrial sites with primary and secondary sources of critical and battery metals (Li, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni); experienced partners to pilot novel processes for producing battery-grade materials based on previous projects and activities; industrial and SME end-users in the battery, cement, paint, and ceramic sectors; and partners to demonstrate the social-license-to-operate (including the support of government bodies), sustainability and commercial chances that the solution represents. Worldwide, these battery metals are predominantly in Chile, Australia, South Africa, China, and The Democratic Republic of Congo, representing a high risk for the EU in terms of supply shortage. For example, in the case of Li, the EU import reliance is 87% for lithium concentrates and 100% for refined compounds as there is no domestic refining . METALLICO includes 4 cases studies in the EU to recover: battery-grade Li2CO3 from a primary spodumene/lepidolite/petalite deposit; Co concentrates and battery-grade CoSO4 from a mine secondary resource (CLC); and Cu, Co, Mn, and Ni concentrates from metallurgical slag from a Pb refining company (KHGM) and secondary mine tailings (THARSIS). Upscaling of sustainable and innovative upstream and downstream processes will demonstrate the techno-economic recovery and production of these critical and important metals for the EU.

CARBIOW project addresses green transition and circular economy by proposing novel technologies that cover the whole process of conversion of organic waste to biofuels. On one hand, hard-to-utilize organic waste such as organic fraction of municipal solid waste and residues from biorefinery and biological processes are utilized to highlight a new bioenergy source. On the other hand, new technologies will be developed from TRL 2 to 5. The proposed technologies via CARBIOW enable Europe to take the lead and advancement in several fields of energy generation and energy sector decarbonization. Moreover, energy security, economical boost, local energy independenc,e and job creation are addressed. Torrefaction as an emerging technology converts the very heterogeneous and wet organic waste to a high-quality solid biofuel. Besides, torgas will be combusted with oxygen to generate energy for torrefaction, and to obtain nearly pure CO2. A novel technology i.e., oxygen-blown gasification in oxygen carrier aided systems will convert the torrefied organic waste to clean syngas with very high efficiency in terms of energy and yield. The syngas will be used in the Fischer-Tropsch process with a novel reactor and novel 3D printed catalysts aiming to produce aviation (kerosene) and marine (alcohols) biofuels. The CO2 from the oxy-conversion steps will be fixed in the resulting ashes from the same process via carbonization to make cement-based product. So, CARBIOW addresses another goal that is the decarbonization of cement industry, while making the biofuels to be carbon negative. The diversity and strength of the experts within the consortium of CARBIOW will guarantee the technological, technical, and societal advancement of what is proposed, most importantly, the exploitation and perspective of the whole process will be evaluated by the leaders and industrial sites to pledge the feasibility of the scale-up and further development of the proposed process.