ABOUT RAWCLIC
About the project
The RAWCLIC project is an EU funded project that empowers industry and policy decision-makers by delivering critical insights into the future demand, supply, and environmental impacts of raw materials in the EU’s twin transition. By providing actionable insights and strategies, RAWCLIC empowers industry and policymakers to make informed, sustainable decisions for the green and digital transformations.
Overview
RAWCLIC is a pioneering project dedicated to understanding the future of raw materials (RMs) in Europe amid the twin transition—a shift towards a greener, digital economy. By exploring changes in RM demand, supply, and environmental impacts, RAWCLIC provides critical insights to support fact-based decision-making for industry leaders and policymakers.
The main goal of RAWCLIC is to develop robust knowledge on the future demand and supply of raw materials and their associated environmental impacts. The project aims to identify key challenges, such as material substitution and resource availability (including both geological and urban mine deposits), and to evaluate new processing technologies and circular material use. These insights help pinpoint supply risks, uncover opportunities, and propose mitigation measures at technological, sectoral, and EU levels.
RAWCLIC WORK IN A NUTSHELL
WP1: Harmonizing Models and Scenarios
WP1 focuses on aligning all modeling activities across the project. By developing harmonized concepts, methods, and scenarios that consistently consider EU policies, WP1 ensures that the insights from later work packages are integrated seamlessly into a unified analysis. Collaboration with leading international modeling initiatives further enhances these efforts.
WP2: Quantifying Future Demand
In WP2, the project quantifies the demand for raw materials and technologies essential to the twin transition. This includes developing multiple demand scenarios for energy and digitalisation, identifying key sub-technologies (like different types of batteries), and estimating the material requirements (for example, lithium or gallium) over short, mid, and long-term horizons.
WP3: Modeling Secondary Raw Materials Supply
WP3 develops a comprehensive understanding of the future supply of secondary raw materials in the EU. By creating harmonized datasets and dynamic models, the work package maps recovery and recycling technologies and provides projections that will inform remediation strategies and risk assessments in later stages.
WP4: Assessing Primary Raw Materials Supply
WP4 is dedicated to analyzing the factors that affect the future supply of primary raw materials both globally and within the EU. This includes reviewing potential resource sources, examining mining-related bottlenecks and risks, and considering how EU policies, geopolitical shifts, and technological developments will shape material availability.
WP5: Evaluating Environmental Impacts
The objective of WP5 is to assess the environmental footprint of raw materials supply. Using life cycle assessment (LCA) and spatially explicit methods, WP5 measures land use, water consumption, and waste generation associated with both current and future extraction and processing methods, providing critical data for sustainability planning.
WP6: Integrating Insights into Transition Pathways
WP6 brings together the findings from WP2, WP3, WP4, and WP5 to develop comprehensive scenarios and strategies for the twin transition. This work package models future supply scenarios and identifies potential bottlenecks, ultimately deriving a roadmap that informs decision-makers on reducing raw material supply risks.
WP7: Communication & Dissemination
WP7 ensures that the results and progress of RAWCLIC are communicated effectively to a wide range of audiences. By developing tailored communication tools, publishing key findings, and fostering collaborations between researchers, industry, and policymakers, WP7 plays a vital role in promoting the project’s impact and supporting the exploitation of its results.
WP8: Governance and Project Management
WP8 sets up the framework for project governance and internal communication. It ensures that all project activities meet quality standards, remain on schedule and within budget, and adhere to best practices in risk management. WP8 also drives stakeholder engagement through the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), promotes gender equality, and works to minimize the project’s carbon footprint.
Structure of the RAWCLIC project
IMPACT AND ROADMAP
By applying its models to 20 key raw materials, RAWCLIC is developing a coherent roadmap that guides global decision-makers in research, policy, and industry. This roadmap is designed to enable Europe’s twin transition by supporting sustainable, resilient, and decarbonized energy and resource management strategies.
RAWCLIC is built on strong, continuous collaboration. The project actively engages with stakeholders across the raw materials value chain—from upstream mining and refining operations to downstream energy and digital technology sectors. This ongoing dialogue ensures that the insights generated are aligned with real-world needs and that the roadmap remains relevant and actionable.
FUTURE PROSPECTS
Looking forward, RAWCLIC will continue to refine its models and expand its methodologies, setting the benchmark for sustainable raw materials management. The project’s work will not only aid Europe in navigating the challenges of the twin transition but will also offer valuable lessons and frameworks for the global community.