Critical raw materials (CRMs) including platinum group metals and rare-earth elements are of an outstanding importance for technological, industrial and economic development of modern society. Their global sources are limited, and their mining is harmful for the environment. Recycling from waste car and industrial catalysts, fuel cells and permanent magnets accounts for a small proportion of total production and is often unsustainable and expensive. This project at University of Helsinki will address these issues by design closed-loop dissolution and activation laboratory and scaled-up experiments using green chemicals and energy- and resource-efficient approaches, complying with sustainable development, resource safety and circular economy. The main impact of this project is building a novel recycling model by providing a high-quality knowledge on CRM chemistry and creating a self-sufficient society that relies on state-of-art recycling rather than on unsustainable mining and import.

2026

2030