(Finance) – It was held today, May 24 in Rome, at the headquarters of the Ara Pacis, the presentation of the Position Paper “Critical raw materials and Italian industrial production. The opportunities deriving from the circular economy” – realized by The European House – Ambrosetti in collaboration with Iren. The presentation event, moderated by the journalist Laura Teccesaw the participation Adolfo Urso (Minister of Business and Made in Italy), Valerio DeMolli (Managing Partner & CEO, The European House – Ambrosetti), Luca Dal Fabro (President, Iren), Fiorenzo Fumanti (Ispra) e Daniel Bonato (General Manager, Erion).
“Critical raw materials are central to European industry and form part of key technologies for energy and digital policy, in a context in which Europe and Italy are heavily dependent on third countries. In Italy, in particular, the demand for strategic critical raw materials is expected to grow up to 11 times compared to today, necessitating policy solutions aimed at ensuring a secure and resilient supply”, he says Valerio De Molli, Managing Partner & CEO of The European House – Ambrosetti.
“The results of the research – says the president of Iren Luca Dal Fabbro – demonstrate how the increase in plant equipment in terms of recovery and recycling of critical raw materials is the most urgent action to be undertaken for the benefit of the security of the Italian economic system. By 2040, the circular economy will be able to satisfy up to 32% of Italy’s annual need for strategic raw materials. Iren will play a leading role in this area, on the strength of an industrial plan which envisages 10.5 billion euros of investments by 2030 with the aim of becoming the reference player for the circular economy in the country”.
During the Round Table they were shared the main results of the studywith the aim of qualifying the centrality of critical raw materials for European industrial productions, highlighting the potential criticalities related to the concentration of supplies, and quantifying the current and prospective needs for Italy by identifying the opportunities deriving from the circular economy .
In the 2023 the European Commission has identified 34 critical raw materials for European industry (20 more than the survey carried out in 2011). China is now the main European supplier for 56% of critical raw materials with significant implications for 2030 energy targets: if China stops supplying Europe with rare earths, 241 GW of wind power would be at risk by 2030 (47% of the total) and 33.8 million electric vehicles (66% of the total), making it impossible to achieve the objectives linked to the European guidelines.
China’s positioning on critical raw materials is not only based on domestic production, but also on refining capacity. In fact, China refines over 90% of the world’s production of rare earths, manganese and germanium. Not only that: between 2005 and 2021, China directed over 80 billion euros of foreign direct investments towards the mining and refining sector. This is a value equal to 2.3 times the European public investments in renewables observed in the same reference period. The top 3 countries where China has directed investments are Australia (26.6 billion euros), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (13.7 billion euros) and Peru (11.8 billion euros). The effects of this strategy are visible on critical raw materials such as cobalt and lithium, for which China holds 3% and 11% of global mining capacity, but with the share reaching 25% and 24% respectively when companies are included under Chinese control.
Within this highly concentrated market, the Critical Raw Materials Actissued in March 2023 by the European Commission establishes that, by 2030, extraction, refining and recycling must meet, respectively, at least 10%, 40% and 15% of the European need for critical raw materials, with the aim of making industrial supply chains more resilient and less dependent on Third countries. Furthermore, a maximum of 65% of the critical raw materials consumed can be imported from a single country.
Also in 2023 the European Commission has also introduced the concept of strategic raw materials, i.e. the raw materials necessary for industrial productions that fall into strategic sectors of use identified as: renewable energies, electric mobility, digital, aerospace and defence. The analyzes by The European House – Ambrosetti, based on over 50 European policy documents from the last 5 years, make it possible to identify the technologies underlying the strategic sectors (photovoltaic, wind, batteries, data storage and servers, electronic products, drones and satellites ) and consequently to identify the current and prospective Italian need for strategic raw materials.
The results of the analysis show that the Italian needs today of strategic raw materials stands at about 2,782 tons In the 2020with copper accounting for 44% of the total. Furthermore, by 2040, the demand is expected to grow up to 11 times compared to these volumes, in the hypothesis of a productive specialization of the country in the wind and photovoltaic sectors and of a technological expansion consistent with the European energy targets.
In general, in the light of the growing need for strategic critical raw materials, there are constraints to be considered in order to satisfy these needs. In fact, on the one hand, critical strategic raw materials have few substitute materials, some of which are in turn critical and with less technologically mature solutions that make comparable performances difficult. On the other hand, the extraction of metallic mineral materials in Italy today is essentially nil, with authorization times for developing a new mining site that reach 15/17 years in Europe.
In this framework, the circular economy therefore represents a lever with high potential, also in light of the growing volumes of low-carbon technologies that will reach the end of their life: the stock of recyclable products between now and 2040 is expected to grow 13 times. In this context, in 2040 recycling will be able to satisfy from 20% to 32% of Italy’s annual need for strategic raw materials, with the 15% target set by the European Commission which can already be reached in 2030. However, in order to achieve recycling rates and enhance Italy’s strategic autonomy, an increase in plant equipment is necessary: The European House – Ambrosetti has estimated that 7 plants will be needed in Italy to valorise products that contain critical raw materials, for a total investment of around 336 million Euros .
So become the role of multiutilities such as Iren is fundamentalthanks to the strong territorial presence, the high investment capacity and the presence rooted in the entire energy and waste supply chain.
Iren is active in the strategic sectors of energy, water, the environment and networks will provide a substantial contribution to the achievement of the targets required by the Critical Raw Materials Act thanks to the direct management of approximately 60 waste treatment plants in Italyincluding innovative lines for the treatment of WEEE (waste from electrical and electronic equipment) for the recovery of the critical raw materials contained.
In Iren’s business plan to 2030, which it envisages approximately 10.5 billion in investments, 80% of which dedicated to sustainable growtha is expected further plant developmentincluding the construction of the first Italian plant dedicated exclusively to the recovery of precious materials and critical raw materials, the construction of which will start by 2023 in Valdarno.