Clara Bilbao

Article written by Rafael Miguel – Recycling and Circular Economy Market Manager at GAIKER – See original

Europe is facing a major problem regarding its dependence on key raw materials, as its economies are highly exposed geopolitically, thereby posing a serious risk to the continent's security, autonomy and economic viability.

The availability of certain key minerals and the ability to process them is becoming a key issue in areas such as energy transition and other important sectors such as electronics, energy, industry, aeronautics and the automotive industry. These minerals are essential for manufacturing batteries, solar panels, wind turbines and other technological products and it is estimated that there will be a 20% shortfall in supply to meet global demand by 2035.

In view of this expected increase in demand in the coming years and in order to reduce its heavy dependence on foreign sources, the European Union approved new regulations on Critical Raw Materials in March 2024. The aim is to ensure a more stable and diverse supply of these minerals, encourage recycling, and support research into using them more efficiently and finding alternatives.

GAIKER is committed to supporting companies in the transition towards a circular economy, and has taken a holistic approach towards recycling, recovering and valorising essential mineral resources, by optimising recycling techniques, improving the efficiency of recovery processes and exploring new ways to valorise materials.

Among its most notable achievements, the Technology Centre has developed advanced processes for recovering valuable minerals from various types of industrial and post-consumer waste, such as waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). An example of this is its participation in the CIRIAMET project – smart technologies to promote the circularity of metals in the new generation of end-of-life vehicles (ELKARTEK Programme run by the Basque Government, 2024–2025).

The Centre also has experience in developing and optimising hydrometallurgical processes aimed at recovering strategic raw materials and high added-value metals. It uses its in-depth knowledge of leaching, separation and purification technologies to design and tailor solutions that make it possible to extract critical metals from industrial and electronic waste and secondary streams, helping to drive the circular economy and reduce dependence on primary raw materials.

Moreover, GAIKER has a wide range of equipment for both separating and classifying materials using physical and mechanical processes. It has analytical equipment and advanced real-time identification systems and software tools to pre-process signals and train and validate AI-based predictive identification models.

Its multidisciplinary team combines advanced capabilities and laboratory- and pilot-scale experimentation and process simulation, enabling it to tackle R&D and technology transfer projects across the entire hydrometallurgical recovery value chain. Its areas of expertise include developing selective leaching systems using conventional and alternative chemical agents, applying precipitation, ion exchange and solvent extraction technologies, and the integral recovery of the resulting liquid and solid streams.

Likewise, GAIKER is actively working on research into more sustainable and environmentally friendly processes, incorporating less aggressive reagents. These capabilities have put the Centre in the privileged position of collaborating with companies and administrations to design and implement innovative processes aimed at recovering strategic metals such as cobalt, nickel, lithium, rare earth elements and other essential elements for the technology, energy and electric mobility sectors.

GAIKER’s Sustainable Composites & Functional Polymers Area coordinates the European projects ECORES WIND, BIOSAFIRE and E-OILÉ.

The Sustainable Composites & Functional Polymers Area at GAIKER Technology Centre, a member of the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA), is leading three technological development and innovation projects funded by the European Union within the Horizon Europe programme. These projects are Ecores Wind, Biosafire and E-oilé, approved under the HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-02, HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01 and HORIZON-CL4-2024-RESILIENCE-01-TWO-STAGE calls, respectively.

The “Novel Circular Resin Development for Composite Structures in Wind Energy Applications” project, ECORES WIND, began in 2024 with the aim of developing new circular resin systems for composite materials to improve the circularity and minimise the environmental footprint of wind energy systems throughout their life cycle. It aims to explore alternatives that facilitate greater circularity, extended lifetime and efficient decommissioning.

The “Development and Manufacture of New, More Sustainable and Safer Materials Using Biobased Functionalised Additives Based on Lingin and Tannins to Improve Fire Resistance” project, BIOSAFIRE, was also launched this year, with the aim of developing a new generation of bio-based, safe and sustainable flame retardants to replace current toxic alternatives with high performance and lower environmental impact ones.

Finally, the “Sustainable End-of-Life Routes for Single-Use Monodose Packaging for Oily Products” project, E-OILÉ, started at the beginning of June this year. This research aims to address biodegradable, safe and sustainable packaging solutions. The aim is to develop a cost-effective alternative to replace existing monodose packaging made of non-biodegradable fossil-based materials in flexible and semi-rigid formats, in accordance with the SSbD framework.

GAIKER’s work on the projects

In addition to leading these three four-year projects, GAIKER will carry out various activities focused on the transition to sustainability in different areas. In ECORES WIND, it will work on the characterisation of the new materials to be developed in the project, as well as on the manufacturing processes, and will be in charge of scaling up the recycling processes of the new resins that are developed.

In BIOSAFIRE, GAIKER will study the compatibility of the new bio-based flame retardants developed with thermostable matrices. GAIKER will also manufacture some of the parts and will be in charge of their characterisation in order to assess the fire properties of these new sustainable additives. Thanks to its extensive experience in fire performance, it will carry out various fire tests in accordance with the regulations required for each sector and the biotechnology department will carry out other tests included in the SSbD (Safe and Sustainable by Design) framework to determine the safety of the products to be developed.  

In the E-OILÉ project, the Technology Centre will be in charge of validating biodegradable materials and packaging at a functional level, as well as redesigning them prior to industrial scale-up.  Following Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing (LCA and LCC) methods, it will also study the sustainability and circularity of the proposed biodegradable packaging solutions and their potential recyclability.

GAIKER has an extensive track record as a participant in international consortia, which allows it to establish alliances and collaborative environments that guarantee its presence in European R&D programmes. The current coordination of these three projects and its historical participation in more than 160 is proof of this.

These projects have received funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nos. 101178218, 101148066 and 101177771.

The views expressed are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.