Anne Ruth den Hertog June 2nd, 2023
A phone, laptop, wind and solar energy, an electric car, they all have one thing in common critical raw materials. These are needed to create these products, which means that you are most likely indirectly dependent on them as well.
To get critical raw materials Europe is planning to build more ‘green mines’ within Europe. Which makes building green mines one of the goals of the Green Deal. However, they barely started building the first two mining sites in Savannah, Portugal and Echassières, France and the debate between NGOs, authorities, mining companies, and local communities already started. The act is not final, which makes everything vaguer and fuels the discussion even more.
The CRMA and the Dutch raw material strategy
The first version of Europe’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) was announced in March this year. According to the European Commission, this law will make Europe less dependent on other countries. “Because at the moment, many European countries are still highly dependent on China for the supply of raw materials,” says Claire Peers, a senior consultant at Teneo, a communication and public affairs consultancy in Brussels.
The Netherlands has developed a national raw materials strategy in 2021, other countries within and outside of Europe have created similar laws. These different strategies are intended to ensure that there are enough raw materials available, primarily for the ‘energy/climate transition.’
“Critical Raw Materials are resources that are essential for specific industries and economies, but that have a high level of facing supply risk. These materials are needed for advanced technologies, electric vehicles, and renewable energy for example. Examples of critical raw materials in the EU include Cobalt, Lithium, Copper, and Nickel. Which materials are included within this list varies per region”
Paul Schenderling is an economist at Berenschot who advises companies, governments, and NGOs on social and ecological issues from an economic perspective based on scientific research. According to him, the “climate transition will lead to an additional increase in raw materials.” This growth in material demand is a problem because, as Schenderling states, “we don’t want to deplete everything for future generations. Ideally, we should keep sufficient raw materials available for the future generations at an acceptable price.”
Mining companies, on the other hand, argue that the demand for primary raw materials will inevitably increase.
“We need to realize that we still require a significant amount of primary raw materials, even though our ultimate goal is a circular economy.”
Rolf Kuby – Director-General of Euromines, the largest and most influential European association for the mining sector
Kuby advocates to do this in Europe “…let’s do it on our own. So not NIMBY, not in my backyard, but BIMBY, best in our backyard, because we have the most efficient, most performed, most sustainable system based on a democracy, in Europe.”
Tobias Kind-Rieper, interim director of ecosystems and resource protection and global leader of mining and metals at WWF Germany, acknowledges the need for more primary raw materials, but believes that it should not be the sole focus. Within Europe, efforts should also be made to reduce the demand for raw materials. This point is mentioned in the Dutch raw materials strategy but is not addressed in the CRMA at all.
The Dutch government program “The Netherlands Circular in 2050” lists reducing resource consumption as its first point. According to Schenderling, this is often overlooked. “…any environmental gains we (as a population) make, which also involves saving raw materials, are largely undone by consumption growth, a factor consistently overlooked by governments, unfortunately.”
Planned obsolescence
Another point mentioned in the Dutch program, but barely addressed within the EU, is planned obsolescence. This refers to the production of products that need to be replaced after a few years. In ‘The Netherlands Circular in 2050’, this goal is called ‘extension of product lifespan’, focusing on reuse, refurbishment, and repair. The aim is to encourage companies to produce products that can be used for a longer time and easily repaired if they do break.
“It’s not fair to blame companies for producing products that require repurchasing after a few years because they are also caught in the dilemma of profit maximization.”
Paul Schenderling – An economist at Berenschot who advises on social and ecological issues from an economic perspective
If the government sets minimum standards for companies and dictates the minimum lifespan of a product, fewer primary raw materials will be needed in the future.
The OECD report
Reducing these primary raw materials is crucial. In 2019, the OECD, a collaboration of different countries, published a report indicating that the demand for primary raw materials would increase by approximately 50% in 2060. This estimated increase is driven by population growth and economic development in multiple countries.
This report mentions that the global economy will continue to grow as well, leading to increased demand for raw materials. Even when considering technological advancements and systematic changes such as more efficient and less material-intensive practices, as shown in the last column of the chart, the demand will continue to grow.
The Car Industry
The fact that we are consuming more and use more critical raw materials is very much visible in the automotive industry, for example. The weight of cars has increased across Europe over the years. In addition to consuming more raw materials for production, larger cars often require more fuel to operate. It should be stated though that electric cars also contribute to the weight increase due to the weight of the battery. However, cars are generally becoming larger with more available features, which makes the materials used for the making of a car higher. This is visible in this visualization that shows the average weight of a car per country in Europe.
Quicker Mining Permits
In short, a significant amount of raw materials is needed to be able to fulfill the goals for the energy/climate transition. The EU aims to speed up the process of obtaining raw materials by giving mining permits faster. They can do this by pressuring the member states, and giving out the permits that come from the Commission faster. This streamlining process is proposed in the CRMA, with the commission striving to have permits finalized within 24 months. However, Kind-Rieper, the person who works for WWF Germany, finds this unrealistic: "Assessing the environmental impact of mining in a specific location takes time, and even if you could speed up the process, there are still many issues regarding informing and consulting with the local population. Moreover, European ministries lack expertise on the environmental impact of mining, furthermore mining practices vary by location."
Euromines, on the other hand, is very optimistic about this speeding-up process and sees it as something that is definitely feasible. Kuby suggests "limiting the permitting process to an environmental permit only." Additionally, on behalf of Euromines, he proposes appointing one person per EU-based mining project “one state secretary responsible for opening the mine, extending permits, and facilitating dialogue between different authorities."
The European Commission aims to stick to a procedure period of a maximum of 24 months. Within these 24 months, the responsible person from the Commission will give careful consideration to the existing environmental laws. Furthermore, "A project proposal needs to include relevant evidence confirming fulfillment of the sustainability criteria" according to the Commission.
Critical Raw Materials Pricing
Another issue with European mining is that it is economically challenging to bring raw materials from European soil to the market at a reasonable price. Europe faces more regulations, procedures, and higher labor costs, all of which will be reflected in higher raw material prices. According to Schenderling, this cost can be passed on to the consumer, such as through a carbon tax. "We can impose more of these taxes on consumers because it's important to shift consumption patterns and slow down consumption growth." This measure will gradually reduce the demand for primary raw materials but will require consumers to pay more.
Law Integration
However, according to Kind-Rieper, Schenderling, and Ester van der Voet, a scientist at Leiden University and an expert in sustainable resource consumption, both the European CRMA and the Dutch raw materials strategy lack one very important thing: integrated policy. Kind-Rieper states, "The biggest problem for me is that the policy in Europe is not integrated. There are so many different rules, laws, and procedures. I don't see how they are connected to the CRMA." Schenderling also highlights this issue with the Dutch strategy: "...the lack of integration is one of the biggest problems at the moment." Van der Voet also recognizes this problem, saying, "In the Netherlands, you have the raw materials strategy, but in addition to that, you have the national circular economy program. These two are closely related. I believe they should be treated as a single entity, but unfortunately, bureaucratic ministries struggle to collaborate."
The Dutch strategy is already in effect, but the European strategy is still under review by the commission for adjustments. Feedback can be provided on this law until June, and the debate between mining organizations, NGOs, and various institutions will continue.
This article is part of “Crossborder Journalism Campus”, an Erasmus+ project of the University of Gothenburg, Leipzig University and Centre de Formation des Journalistes in Paris. Additional reporting: Alexander Assman, Arthur Dumas, Emma Mack, Oliver Riedel, Sebastian Gall, Yunnes Abzouz
The original article is written in Dutch - this is a translated version