Minerals in a smart phone

In the dark

The paradox is that we want to be autonomous but need a great many critical materials to realise this. “All the key technologies we are working on use critical raw materials”, says Peck. “Without them, you have no robotics, no wind energy, no electric cars, no smartphones, no sustainable houses, no laptops and no AI. Nothing. Without them, we would be sitting here in the dark.”

Casing

Action is vital, because the risk of disruption of our supply chains is growing rapidly. Research carried out by the European Commission shows that, compared with 2017, this risk has increased considerably for a substantial number of the raw materials deemed critical. “The list of materials from China is massive. If something happens in Taiwan, we will be in really deep water”, says Peck. Not only does this involve raw materials but semi-manufactured products, such as solar panels and chips, as well.

Recycling, remanufacturing and mining

Peck agrees with Breton and Adriaansens’ opinion that the way out is the transition to a circular economy and more efficient use and recycling of materials. “Recycling is essential”, he says. “Ultimately we will have to recycle everything.” The problem is that the demand is increasing faster than the supply. That is why we have to look at mining in Europe too. This is a highly controversial subject, Peck acknowledges, but it would help us to become less dependent quickly. “We cannot recycle ourselves out of this situation.”

Another topic on which Peck has carried out a great deal of research is remanufacturing. This entails making new products from old ones. It goes a step further than what are known as ‘refurbished products’, which are already available on the market. “Remanufactured telephones will be displayed in the shops next to brand-new ones but they will be indistinguishable from them.”

In fact, remanufacturing buys us time. “It does not solve the crisis regarding critical materials but, by reusing materials, you do get more time to think up solutions. Time is crucial.”

Innovation

Innovation plays an important role in all this.

“The Netherlands may have few critical materials but it does have strong universities and research institutes, such as the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), that can make all the difference.” It is not just a question of developing key technologies but also of training technical personnel.

TU Delft is involved in a series of projects in the field of critical materials. Various faculties are playing a role in this: Materials Science, for example, is researching how recycled materials behave, Civil Engineering and Geosciences has expertise in the field of mining and Technology, Policy and Management (TBM) has a great deal of knowledge regarding administrative embedment and sustainable business models in house.