Recycling critical materials is essential

Despite advancements, significant challenges remain in recovering critical and strategic raw materials (CRMs & SRMs) from electronic waste. The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act aims for 25% of SRM demand to come from recycling, yet the Netherlands still falls short of this goal. A new whitepaper from reacherses TNO provides a detailed assessment of recovery possibilities from discarded electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste). TNO’s research highlights that CRMs and SRMs are present in all six e-waste categories identified by the EU: large and small appliances, small IT and telecommunication equipment, screens and monitors, temperature exchange equipment, and lamps. However, only a small fraction of these valuable materials is currently recovered. And this is why initiatives such as One for One from Closing the Loop are essential.

Three key recommendations

The whitepaper outlines three primary recommendations to improve CRM and SRM recovery:

Policymakers must introduce stronger incentives for collecting and recycling electronic devices.
Stakeholders need greater transparency and collaboration to enhance knowledge of product composition.
Companies and research institutions should be encouraged to develop and implement new recycling technologies.

Improving collection and sorting

One of the main challenges in the value chain is e-waste collection. In 2020, only 44% of electronic waste was collected in the Netherlands, far below the 65% target. Many devices remain unused or broken in households and businesses, representing a missed opportunity to recover valuable materials. Better incentives for consumers and companies to return old devices are necessary.

Enhancing transparency and cooperation

The complexity of electronic products makes it difficult to determine their exact composition. “The inside of electrical products is a bit of a black box,” says Kieran Campbell-Johnston, lead author of the TNO study. As products rapidly evolve, a lack of transparency from manufacturers hinders the development of viable recycling pathways. Better collaboration between research organisations and producer responsibility organizations (PROs) is crucial for improving product knowledge.

Economic and technological constraints

While recovery technologies exist, they are often underdeveloped or not widely applied. The costs of manual disassembly and the energy required for recycling make the process economically challenging. “Currently, recycling costs are often higher than sourcing new materials,” says Susanne van Berkum, Consultant Circular Electronics at TNO. This means that only the most valuable metals, such as copper and gold, are recycled at scale. To improve recovery rates, financial incentives are needed to support companies investing in new recycling technologies and expanding their processes.