Critical raw materials: what has changed since the 2020 EU list?
In 2020, the European Commission published its fourth list of critical raw materials (CRMs). It identified 30 materials considered important to the European economy and exposed to supply risks. Bauxite, lithium, titanium and strontium were included for the first time in that edition.
The assessment combined two factors: a material's economic importance and its supply risk. Geographic concentration of production, import dependence, substitution possibilities and recycling rates helped explain the vulnerability of supply chains.
Why is LCA relevant?
Life Cycle Assessment can help explain how materials flow through value chains. Life-cycle inventories include flows of raw materials, secondary materials, by-products, emissions and waste. This information can support the identification of material dependencies and opportunities for efficiency and recovery.
LCA does not replace a criticality or supply-security assessment. The approaches answer different questions: one assesses potential environmental impacts across the life cycle; the other examines economic importance and supply vulnerability.
The 2020 list is historical
The 2020 list should not be treated as the European Union's current assessment. The Commission updated the list in 2023, identifying 34 critical raw materials, and the European Critical Raw Materials Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1252) subsequently established a legislative framework.
Niobium remains relevant to Brazil, which plays an important role in supplying it to Europe. However, production concentration and related risks should be assessed using current data and considering the entire value chain. Understanding material flows across the life cycle can complement resilience, circularity and resource-management strategies.