Market RadarBESS & Batterijparken
Dutch Recycling Companies Receive Strategic EU Status for Critical Raw Materials
Four Dutch companies, including Back2Battery and CRITICAL., have been granted strategic status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act. This recognition accelerates permitting processes and improves access to funding for their projects. They focus on recycling materials from batteries, electronics, and metal scrap, contributing to European supply security.
Four Dutch companies have received strategic status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, an acknowledgment that will significantly accelerate and support their critical raw material recycling projects. This status provides priority in permitting, improved access to European financing, and assistance with business development. The initiative underscores the importance of the Dutch contribution to Europe's supply security for essential materials.
Minister Heleen Herbert of Economic Affairs and Climate emphasizes that Dutch entrepreneurs play a crucial role in reducing Europe's strategic dependence. This demonstrates the potential of the Dutch industry to translate innovation into large-scale market applications in the field of critical raw materials and advanced recycling.
The four projects encompass diverse material streams. Myne Circular Metals focuses on recycling metal scrap into high-quality secondary aluminum and copper, with plans for multiple European installations, each processing 50,000 tons per year. Back2Battery processes materials from lithium-ion batteries via hydrometallurgy to produce lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite. This company aims for a capacity of 26,000 tons per year, expected to cover approximately 10 percent of the European market by 2030. Mitsubishi Materials concentrates on the recovery of copper and tungsten from electronic waste, with a planned production of 60 kilotons of copper cathodes.
CRITICAL. specializes in the sustainable recovery of critical raw materials and other metals from discarded printed circuit boards (PCBs). The company, established in 2024, has developed a process configuration that combines multiple industrially proven technologies. The initial focus is on recovering 9 elements, with the ambition to expand this to 24 different elements. The purified raw materials meet the specifications of customers in various industries, including the semiconductor, electronics, energy, and broader manufacturing sectors.
In addition to PCB recycling, CRITICAL. also plans a solar panel recycling plant in Frankenberg, Germany. This facility is designed to process 80 tons of old solar panels daily, equivalent to 1 million solar panels per year. Materials such as glass, aluminum, plastic, silicon, copper, lead, iron, silver, tin, and gallium will be recycled. Funding for this project is anticipated in the first quarter of next year, with an estimated opening in the first quarter of 2028.
These developments are reported by Solar Magazine NL.
Want to know what this means for you?
Talk to Oranje-Eco →This article is an Oranje-Eco summary of a report by Solar Magazine NL. Read the original: Solar Magazine NL.
What impact do you anticipate this strategic status will have on the European supply chain for critical raw materials?
No comments yet - be the first.