KRITEUS

CRM STRATEGY FOR THE BASQUE COUNTRY

THE LIST OF CRMS (CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS) FOR THE EU published in 2017 by the European Commission (EC) includes 27 CRMs, of which 216,000 tonnes are consumed annually in the Basque Country (corresponding to EUR 415 million/year). The most important in terms of turnover are chromium, silicon (ferrosilicon), niobium (ferroniobium) and magnesite. Aluminium, copper, zinc and nickel are the most important non-ferrous metals for the Basque economy, with an approximate consumption of 271,000 tonnes per year (EUR 1.120 billion/year). The industrial sectors most dependent on CRMs are metallurgy and electrical equipment, although they are also critical for sectors such as the manufacture of synchronous motors and refractory materials. Basque industry systematically perceives less criticality than that established by the EU, given that CRMs are frequently embedded in components used in product manufacture or equipment production: permanent magnets, machining tools, catalysts, etc., firms consider they have an “indirect” dependence on CRMs and that risk or price is not associated with the criticality of raw materials.

The SUPREN (SUstainable PRocess ENgineering) research group of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Environment of the UNIVERSITY OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (UPV/EHU) leads KRITEUS. TUBACEX, the manufacturer of long steel and nickel products, DIGIMET, a company specialising in the recovery of high-value metals and TECNALIA Technology Centre have also collaborated in the project.