Brussels, 27/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - The implementation plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials is based on a series of initiatives, including pilot projects, a knowledge base and international cooperation.
The Partnership on Raw Materials was proposed by the Commission in the spring of 2012 within the framework of European Innovation Partnerships (see EUROPE 10567).. Its steering group, led by Commissioners Antonio Tajani (Industry) Maire Geoghegan-Quinn (Research) and Janez Potocnik (Environment), unveiled its strategic implementation plan on Thursday 26 September.
The Partnership seeks to ensure that Europe has a sustainable supply of raw materials and, by 2020, a leading position globally in exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution of raw materials, while at the same time mitigating any negative environmental and social effects.
The plan sets out in detail what has to be done by each of the stakeholders (member states, companies, researchers and NGOs) to encourage technological and non-technological innovation along the raw materials value chain and on the international stage.
Among the concrete targets of the plan are the launch of up to ten pilot projects to promote technologies for the production of primary and secondary raw materials, to find substitutes for at least three applications of critical and scarce raw materials as well as to create better framework conditions for raw materials in Europe. The plan also lists actions to improve Europe's waste management framework conditions and excellence, and to reinforce EU knowledge, skills and raw materials flows; by developing an EU Raw Materials Knowledge Base and potentially setting up a EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC). Actions are also proposed to support an international co-operation strategy, at both bilateral and multilateral levels.
Among the initiatives proposed within the 24 action plan areas, the Commission highlights: new cost-effective exploration concepts and technologies providing high quality data and information, including high resolution 3D geo-data at 150-4000 metres depth; developing solutions for a better recovery and recycling of construction and demolition waste, particularly in the most promising targets, such deconstruction of non-residential buildings; the substitution of indium in transparent conductive layers, such as those used in touch screen devices, flexible electronics, solar energy and OLED lighting (organic light-emitting diode used to create digital displays in devices such as television screens, computer monitors, and portable systems, such as mobile phones, hand-held games consoles and PDAs).
A public call for commitments, to be issued at the end of October, will give all potential stakeholders the opportunity to make themselves known. A Commission communication will follow in 2014, to explain how the stakeholders intend to implement the plan. (EH/transl.fl)