Team: Nina & Elena
What are Critical Raw Materials?
CRMs are materials which are significantly important for companies in order to manufacture their products but have a high-risk associated with their supplier. This high-risk is that the materials are very rare and unique and there is a lack of substitutes for them. Nowadays the supply of these raw materials is increasingly coming under pressure. In order to control this problem, the EU commission has created a list of CRMs and is monitoring the CRM market at all times. Here are some examples:
China: Rare earth elements, magnesium, antimony
Brazil: Niobium
USA: Beryllium and helium
Russia: Palladium
South Africa: iridium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium
The mining process of CRMs
A lot of CRMs cause immens environmental damage during their mining process. So much that a lot of mines have to be shut down which creates problems in the supply chain, since these materials are so inevitable for the companies. For the mine workers the safety and health conditions are very poor. Child labor and corruption are not uncommon. Some countries are very protective of their resources and want to keep them for their own development. China is the producer of 18 out of 27 critical raw materials, followed by the USA, Brazil, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Europe only produces 1 CRM. This shows that many European countries are dependent on the import of these materials from area's outside the EU.
The shortage of CRMs
The prices for CRMs increased immensely in the last few years to the point where they are just too expensive for some companies so they have to find substitutes. But why don't they just produce more CRMs? The opening of CRM mines takes 3 to 5 years, munch longer than the price fluctuations of these materials, making investments in mining risky. Another problem is that many products which contain CRMs are not being recycled, for example laptops and phones. Closing the loop of these materials, a longer lifetime of products, and substitution of materials is of significant importance. Otherwise the development of high tech and also the zero carbon economy movement will be in danger.
What can YOU do?
A big opportunity to help is if you recycle your electronic devices. Don't throw away your old phone or laptop but instead resell it or even buy second hand devices yourself. There are a lot of good companies which specialize on this. An example is Revendo (revendo.ch).
Quiz
Check your knowledge here! (Microsoft Forms)
Vocabulary
CRM - Critical Raw Material
Child labor - Kinderarbeit
Price fluctuations - Preisschwankungen
Sources
Edx (edx.org)
Critical Raw Materials (criticalrawmaterials.org)