Search

The transition to a more circular economy is essential to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient, and competitive economy in the EU. In this context Critical Raw Materials (CRM) are defined as those which are of particularly great importance to the EU economy and at the same time there is a high risk of supply disruptions. First and foremost, improving the circular use of CRM is a key strategy in improving the security of supply and not surprisingly is an objective of various policy documents. This report delivers on action #39 of the Circular Economy Action Plan: "Sharing of best practice for the recovery of critical raw materials from mining waste and landfills". It builds on discussions held during two 2018 workshops and gathers together six examples of existing practices for the recovery of critical, precious, and other materials from extractive waste and landfills, highlighting technological innovation and contributions that have been made to a more comprehensive knowledge-base on raw materials. The report also provides various estimates of potential recovery of certain materials compared to their current demand. Lessons learnt from the practices include awareness that it is very unlikely that recovery processes can target one or just a few specific materials of great interest and disregard other elements or bulk matrixes. Especially in case of very low concentrations, most of the mineral resources and other bulk materials in which they are embedded must be valorised in order to increase economic viability and minimise waste disposal. As recovery processes can be very energy intensive, environmental and land use related aspects are also particularly relevant even though environmental gains may also occur and, moreover, land space can be liberated and reused for new purposes and services. Finally, availability of data and information on secondary materials as well as a harmonized legislative framework within the EU appear to be crucial for the large-scale deployment of recovery practices., JRC.D.3-Land Resources

Sustainability and integration are becoming keywords in many European Union policies, including ones that are directly or indirectly related to mineral resources and waste management. Moreover, life cycle thinking (LCT) is core to many of these policies. The European Union has recently issued two Communications on “A resource efficient Europe” and “Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe”, the stated goal of which is to reconsider the whole life cycle of resource use so as to make the European Union a “circular economy”, one based on recycling and the use of waste as a resource. Construction and Demolition Waste (C&DW) is a possible source of unconventional aggregates, which are recognised as essential and valuable resources for the economic and social development of modern societies. The objective of this paper is to give an overview on some key issues relevant to the integration between mineral resources and C&DW management, in urban areas, towards a more resource-efficient Europe. The paper starts from a definition of Sustainable Supply Mix (SSM) of aggregates, i.e. a selected blend of natural aggregates, quarry by-products and recycled waste that minimises total negative impacts and maximises overall benefits to society. Then it turns on available technologies for C&DW recycling and technical quality requirement of recycled aggregates. Finally, it focuses on assessment tools and metrics that are currently used to understand and enhance eco-efficiency.

This report is a background document used by several European Commission services to prepare the EC report on critical raw materials and the circular economy, a commitment of the European Commission made in its Communication ‘EU action plan for the Circular Economy’. It represents a JRC contribution to the Raw Material Initiative and to the EU Circular Economy Action Plan. It combines the results of several research programmes and activities of the JRC on critical raw materials in a context of circular economy, for which a large team has contributed in terms of data and knowledge developments. Circular use of critical raw materials in the EU is analysed, also taking a sectorial perspective. The following sectors are analysed in more detail: mining waste, landfills, electric and electronic equipment, batteries, automotive, renewable energy, defence and chemicals and fertilisers. Conclusions and opportunities for further work are also presented., JRC.D.3-Land Resources

The development of GPP criteria for Office Building design, construction and management aims at helping public authorities to ensure that projects are procured and implemented with higher environmental standards. The aim of this document is to provide simplified guidance to procurers, estate managers and project teams on how to procure an environmentally improved office building. The guidance has been structured to reflect the distinct phases of activity that may be involved, as well as the most common forms of contracts that are used., JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership

The development of GPP criteria for Road design, construction and maintenance aims at helping public authorities to ensure that road projects are procured and implemented with higher environmental standards. The aim of this document is to provide simplified guidance to procurers and project teams on how to procure an environmentally improved road. The guidance has been structured to reflect the distinct phases of activity that may be involved, as well as the most common forms of contracts that are used., JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership

The development of EU GPP criteria for Road design, construction and maintenance aims at helping public authorities to ensure that road projects are procured and implemented with higher environmental standards. The aim of this document is to provide details on the reasons for selecting these GPP criteria and references for further information., JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership

The development of Green Public Procurement (GPP) criteria for the design, construction and management of office buildings is aimed at helping public authorities to ensure that projects are procured and implemented in order to deliver environmental improvements that contribute to European policy objectives for energy and resource efficiency, as well as providing healthy working conditions and reducing life cycle costs. In order to identify the most significant improvement areas for criteria development an analysis has been carried out of the environmental and health impacts of constructing and operating office buildings. The most commonly used procurement processes for office buildings, as well as the actors involved in delivering successful projects, have also been identified and are further addressed in an accompanying GPP guidance document. Together these two documents aim to provide public authorities with orientation on how to effectively integrate these GPP criteria into the procurement process., JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership

This technical report is aimed at providing a sound base to the revision process of the EU Ecolabel criteria for Soil improvers and Growing Media. Currently, separate sets of EU Ecolabel criteria exist for Soil improvers (Decision 2006/799/EC) and Growing media (Decision 2007/64/EC). The revision process spanned both product groups; thus common criteria for both Soil improvers and Growing media are developed, only distinguishing between technical product characteristics where necessary. Another objective of this revision is addressing the possibility to broaden the current scope to the product mulch, as it has been identified as a differentiated sub-product within the product group 'soil improvers'. To achieve those objectives, a Preliminary Report was produced together with the first version of this technical report as a working document. Hence, this document was developed to undergo the stakeholder consultation, which is crucial to come up with criteria adapted to the market reality while being able to select the best environmental performance products available on the market. After an extensive stakeholder's consultation process, this current version of the Technical Report supporting the draft criteria for growing media, soil improvers and mulch, constitutes the support of the criteria set voted positive by the Regulatory Committee., JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumption

This working paper forms the main deliverable and outcome from work package A of the wider study. The aim of this working paper is to inform the identification of the most relevant macro-objectives for a building’s life cycle resource efficiency. These macro-objectives will in turn inform and set the scope for the common framework of indicators in work packages B,C and D. The first draft of this working paper was presented as the basis for discussion at the first stakeholder working group meeting, which was held in Brussels on the 16th June 2015. At that meeting the proposed boundaries, scope and coverage of the macro-objectives were discussed. Feedback from those discussions, together with follow-up written feedback, has been used in Chapters 6 and 7 of this working paper to identify a final set of macro-objectives that will be used to set the scope for the framework of indicators. In order to inform the initial proposals for discussion that were presented to stakeholders, this paper reviews existing legislation, scientific evidence, building schemes, collaborative research projects and other relevant literature. A high level scoping of environmental and resource efficiency ‘hot spots’ along the life cycle of buildings has also been carried out. Potential linkages and trade-offs between resource use, impacts along the life cycle and functional performance, with a specific focus on health and wellbeing aspects, have also been identified., JRC.B.5-Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership

Following the publication of the Working Plan for the Ecodesign Directive (2012-2014), in April 2013 the European Commission launched a preparatory study on the product group taps and showers. The preparatory study on taps and showers has been developed by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) following the Commission’s Methodology for the Evaluation of Energy-related Products (MEErP). The research is based on available scientific information and data, adopts a life cycle thinking approach and has engaged with stakeholder experts in order to discuss key issues and to develop a wide consensus. As a final result, the JRC has produced a comprehensive techno-economic and environmental assessment with which to evaluate a possible favourable mix of policy instruments for this product group. In summary, the study has pointed out that: - Water consumption and scarcity is and will be a problem in many areas of the European Union. - The water- and energy-saving potential of taps and showers at European level is significant. - A large number of taps and shower models are on the market which offer consumers the possibility of choosing between different levels of water and energy consumption. - Water-saving technologies represent technically effective, economically affordable and flexible product options. - Market transformation and current policy instruments and industry initiatives are already generating some environmental benefits for this product group. - Increased environmental improvement could be achieved through additional environmental product policy instruments. - A strategic communication policy would be needed because user behaviour is a key issue for ensuring the effective achievement of a potential benefit with any initiative. - Harmonised standards for measuring and calculating the water/energy efficiency of taps and shower systems would also be an important element to integrate in any policy option although this may require a considerable amount of time., JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumption

This report provides a methodology proposal for establishing limit values for pollutants in waste-derived aggregates with a view of using such aggregates in a wide variety of construction projects, as part of possible end-of-waste criteria for aggregates in accordance with Article 6 of the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC). More specifically, the study centres on aggregate substances that are subject to leaching and/or release through wear. The report focuses on identifying and assessing the pollution risks of using aggregates derived from waste, on reviewing how the use of aggregates is regulated today in the EU with respect to avoiding pollution, on assessing the need for including limit values for pollutants in end-of-waste criteria, on assessing the suitability of different types of pollutant limit values, on identifying and assessing the different methodological approaches for deriving pollutant limit values and on identifying the most suitable testing approaches and methods, including simplified modes of compliance., JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumption