Raw Materials Initiative (RMI)

EuChemS submitted a response to the European Commission’s consultation on the implementation of the Raw Materials Initiative (RMI), adopted in 2008, at the end of 2010. The RMI focuses on non-energy and non-food raw materials. The RMI has received renewed impetus from the Europe 2020 Strategy, which is the EU’s guiding vision for the next ten years. In particular, RMI is relevant to the ‘Industrial policy for the globalisation era… (that looks at all aspects of the) international value chain from access to raw materials to after-sales service’. It is also linked to the related flagships of Innovation Partnership and Resource Efficiency.
EuChemS was supportive of moves to review the list of those materials considered to be critical and suggested that EuChemS should be  involved in working groups to assess the impact of emerging technologies on demand for raw materials. EuChemS also called for greater support through the current and future EU RTD programmes for more research on substitution and more effective use of critical materials.