Urban mining in the EU

Subject: Urban mining in the EU

The Commission has set targets for an increase in the recovery of used materials, so-called ‘urban mining’, as part of its circular economy strategy.

The Commission’s view is that recycling has always been important in relation to metals, and the use of scrap steel, aluminium or copper not only reduces the need for primary raw materials, but also saves energy and reduces emissions.

Consequently, given the quantity of raw materials that Europe imports, it would make economic sense to use urban mining to keep resources in the European economy once buildings or products come to the end of their operational life.

Can the Commission provide more information on what actions it is taking in order to increase urban mining across the EU?

Answer given by Mr Vella on behalf of the European Commission

(23 March 2019)

The Commission has targeted an increase in the recovery of valuable resources in waste, so-called ‘urban mining’, as part of its Circular Economy Strategy (1) put forward in 2015. To that end, the Commission is proactively addressing the implementation gap in the EU concerning meeting the recycling targets by activating the ‘Early Warning’ mechanism built in Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (2). On 24 September 2018, the Commission published the first ‘Early Warning’ report (3) for the 14 Member States at risk of not meeting the 2020 municipal waste recycling target providing tailor-made solutions for each of the countries.

Waste prevention programmes and waste management plans designed following the revised requirements in Articles 28 and 29 of the aforementioned directive need to target critical raw materials to ensure that they are kept in the economy for as long as practicable.

In line with the measures set out in the EU action plan for the Circular Economy (4), in the second quarter of 2019, the Commission will present a detailed analysis of the recovery of critical and other raw materials from mining waste and landfills in the EU.

An EU-wide open-access portal covering structured secondary raw materials data of the ‘urban mine’ for electrical and electronic equipment, vehicles and batteries has been supported by Horizon 2020 (5). The relevant data (6) shows that ‘urban mine’ is increasing.

⋅1∙ https://www.euractiv.com/sections/circular-economy/

⋅2∙ OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 109‐140.

⋅3∙ http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/framework/early_warning.htm

⋅4∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/publications/communications-circular-economy_en

⋅5∙ http://www.prosumproject.eu/

⋅6∙ Raw Materials Scoreboard 2018.