EU Commission report on Critical Raw Materials

The European Commission published a report on Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), stressing their potential for Circular Economy and calling on stakeholders to share their opinion on the topic. The report is organised in three sections, and its aim is to show key data sources and share best practices to promote future actions for CRMs use. The document considers 27 substances from the EU Critical Raw Material List of 2017, including both phosphate rock and phosphorus. Phosphorus recycling is functional in biogenic waste as manure, animal by-products and food and water wastes: it can substitute primary phosphate rock consumption and reduce eutrophication. The study also presents the revision of the EU Fertilisers Regulation and Horizon 2020 and LIFE projects on CRMs. Even though phosphorus is not mentioned there, the report suggests some policy actions potentially relevant as the recovery of CRMs from landfill or the development of new processes to safe recycling and reuse CRMs in chemicals and fertilisers.