Press release
15 November 2021, Brussels, Belgium – To raise the awareness of raw materials, the EU funded SCRREEN2 project is launching the multilingual campaign Raw Materials for Future. The campaign will inform the European public and professional audiences about the key role these materials play in our everyday life and how they can help us reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 by the United Nations and EU policy objectives.
Through a set of graphics and messages, the Raw Materials for Future campaign will focus on the importance of raw materials, explain why some of them are considered critical, and detail how they can contribute to the Green Transition and SDGs. The campaign messages and graphics will be published on the SCRREEN website and promoted on the project’s LinkedIn SCRREEN and Twitter accounts @SCRREEN_EU using the #RawMaterials4Future tag. To ensure the maximum reach of this campaign, informative messages will be rolled out in six languages – English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Why are raw materials important?
All everyday items we use are made of raw materials, some of which are considered critical due to their economic importance to the EU and high risk associated with their sustained supply. Reliable and unhindered access to raw materials is, therefore, a growing concern for the EU. The European Commission elaborates a list of critical raw materials (CRMs) that is reviewed and updated every three years. The EU has also created a European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA), managed by EIT RawMaterials, to work on securing a sustainable supply of raw materials in Europe. EU research and innovation programmes, such as Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, fund activities related to raw materials, especially those focusing on novel mining and processing technologies, substitution, recycling and policy support.
How can certain raw materials contribute to Europe’s carbon-neutrality agenda and the UN SDGs?
Certain raw materials play a crucial role in ensuring that the SDGs can be achieved. They are needed in increasing quantities to build a low carbon economy, where renewable sources of energy replace fossil fuels, and affordable, reliable, and sustainable forms of energy are accessible for all. Wind turbines, solar panels, electric cars, fuel cells or batteries use a wide variety of new raw materials. Therefore, the green energy and digital transition will increase the demand for raw materials in the coming years.
The SCRREEN2 EU funded project
SCRREEN2 is an EU-funded project that aims to support the European CRM strategy and bring expert advice to assist decision-making at the EU level covering all the raw materials and their value chains screened in the CRMs 2020 assessment. The project, launched on 1 November 2020 and coordinated by CEA, comprises 29 recognised key actors on the topics of primary and secondary CRMs as well as on the substitution of CRMs.
The International Raw Materials Observatory is a partner of the SCRREEN2 project.