“Europe is rich in scarce resources”
With this key statement, Elisabeth Köstinger, Austrian Federal Minister of Sustainability and Tourism, today inaugurated the International Raw Materials Conference of the European Raw Materials Initiative EUMICON. Only with innovative technologies can Europe’s future demand for raw materials be secured without having to resort to imports from potentially conflict-laden regions of the world. The shift towards renewable energies in particular is a major driving force for the increasing global need for raw materials that implies a by no means inconsiderable potential for conflict!
At the EUMICON 2018 from 26 – 28 September in Vienna, approx. 250 renowned representatives from research, business, politics, as well as the raw materials and processing industry will speak on new solutions for a sustainable and responsible way of supplying raw materials within Europe, and the necessary processing technologies and machines to this end. Tomorrow, Prof. Dr. Jens Gutzmer, Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Resource Technologies, Freiberg, will give a lecture on the topic of “Mineral Raw Materials from Europe for Europe – Europe’s Potential in Mineral Deposits”.
Statement by Martin Iffert (CEO of TRIMET Aluminum SE):
“Today, we recycle raw materials that were used in products around 10 years ago. Assuming that, at the time, only half as many raw materials were employed as it is the case today, even with a 100% recycling rate, only 50% of the existing demand for raw materials can be covered by secondary sources. The remainder must be obtained primarily, i.e. mined from ore deposits!”