09/03/2026

RELiEF Policy Brief: Securing Europe’s critical raw materials for the Chips and Circular Economy Acts

Co-authors: Anish Patil (TechConcepts BV), Joana Rosa Gouveia (INEGI), America Quinteros Condoretty (LUT University) & Laura Kainiemi (LUT University)

After three and a half years of research, the EU research project RELiEF has successfully concluded. Beyond presenting its technical outcomes and solutions for lithium and battery recycling, the project published a policy brief. The paper concluded that securing a circular supply of critical raw materials requires coordinated and strategic action and outlined four clear recommendations to help transform secondary resources into strategic assets:

  1. Standardise the definition of secondary CRMs
  2. Level the playing field through verifiable sustainability
  3. incentivise circulation and cost competitiveness
  4. institutionalise adaptive governance and social license

Download RELief’s policy brief