Europe is accelerating investment in recycling strategic raw materials, positioning waste recovery as a growing part of its industrial security and efforts to reduce dependence on imported minerals.
The European Commission selected 46 new Strategic Projects across 16 EU countries, including 19 recycling initiatives, compared with eight projects focused exclusively on extraction. The latest selection brings the bloc’s portfolio to 93 projects within the EU, alongside 13 previously selected in partner countries. The shift highlights how Europe is increasingly treating metals contained in used batteries, electronic waste, vehicles and industrial equipment as an additional source of strategic materials.
Netherlands Emerges as a Recycling Hub
The Netherlands accounts for four recycling projects in the latest selection. These include Mitsubishi Materials Europe’s 3ECYCLE, which aims to recover copper and other valuable metals from electronic scrap; Back to Battery in Delft, targeting lithium, nickel, cobalt, manganese and graphite; Myne Circular Metals in Harderwijk, focused on aluminium and copper; and CRITICAL.’s Urban Mining Factory, designed to process discarded printed circuit boards.
Mitsubishi Materials plans to apply its non-ferrous smelting and recycling technology to electronic scrap as it assesses the commercialisation of 3ECYCLE.
Other European initiatives include Atlantic Copper’s CirCular project in Spain, Fortum’s battery recycling operation in Finland, Elemental’s POLVOLT project in Poland, Orano’s hydrometallurgical battery project in France, and projects recovering platinum-group metals and rare-earth magnets.
Recycling Supports Critical Mineral Supply
Europe’s energy transition and industrial development are driving demand for copper in electricity networks, lithium and graphite in batteries, and rare-earth magnets in wind turbines, electric motors and defence technologies.
While primary mining will remain necessary, recycling can supplement supplies by recovering materials from products reaching the end of their useful lives. Battery black mass, electronic scrap and discarded magnets are increasingly valuable feedstocks for specialised processing facilities.
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act sets a target for recycling capacity to meet at least 25% of annual EU consumption of strategic raw materials by 2030, alongside separate objectives for extraction and processing. Meeting that ambition will depend not only on recycling technology but also on reliable waste collection, feedstock contracts and sufficient operating scale. Europe’s expanding project pipeline therefore signals a broader strategy to develop a domestic secondary-mining industry alongside conventional mines.
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