ecoinvent Project Manager Joins the IRTC

Critical Raw Materials (CRM) are raw materials that, in broad terms, are vital for an economy but which also have a high risk associated with their supply. These materials are very important for commonly used goods and applications, and a lack of them could affect the quality of life for individuals and businesses reliant on these goods.

One example provided by the European Union includes the modern smartphone, which might use as many as fifty different metals in its complete design. When those metals are listed as CRMs, then the ability to create the modern smartphone could come into question.

The IRTC project, coordinated by the ESM Foundation and supported by EIT RawMaterials, benefits from the advice of a broad network of experts.

The project seeks to encourage information exchange on topics connected to material criticality, including life cycle assessment, industrial ecology, and sustainable development, and has been crafting academic conversations since 2018. In previous years, the round table has discussed themes such as “How methodology determines what is critical” and “Criticality and the circular economy.”

The IRTC is currently in its third phase, ‘IRTC-Training,’ which seeks to conduct an international conference to create an even more inclusive debate on criticality.