Rare and critical elements (including “Rare Earth Elements”, REE) are not only rare and critical because of their low availability in the earth crust, but also because they are difficult to exploit. In addition, their deposits are concentrated on a few regions in the world.

In the last 20 years, the importance of rare and critical elements increased as they became essential for a sustainable functioning of modern society. The European Commission acknowledges the importance of sufficient and affordable access to such elements like Antimony, Beryllium, Chromium, Cobalt, Gallium, Germanium, Indium, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Niobium, Tungsten and REEs; all of them crucial for the global economy.

Swiss and European industries depend largely on imports of rare and critical elements. Market distortion leads to a high volatility in price and availability. Lacking transparency of supply chains bear the risk of socially and ecologically poor conditions in mining, manufacturing and recycling. These and other factors can endanger the economic growth and development of Switzerland and Europe.

Geopolitical developments strongly influence the access to rare and critical elements. The high costs of available exploration and extraction technologies today may limit further mining. “Urban Mining” allows Europe and other countries with limited deposits an increased access to rare and critical elements – through re-use and recycling of products. New methods and processes are and will be established to obtain high quality materials from Urban Mining. The optimized use of rare and critical elements in materials and products and the substitution with more commonly available elements will further help to reduce the pressure on industry.

These challenges are in the focus of today’s materials research, new process and product development, and policy dialogue. For our future well-being, it is essential to discuss and highlight the role of rare and critical elements throughout the whole value chain.