INRiM is an EMPIR MetroCycleEu’s partner with the collaboration of European NMIs and DIs, 2 research institutes with special focus on TCEs, 1 national R&D agency and 1 recycling industry.
As a result of the shift towards greener economy through the deployment of renewable energy and e-mobility solutions (European Green Deal), the use of indispensable materials for high level technology productions such as technology critical elements (TCE) is expected to increase exponentially in Europe.
Together, TCE supply to the EU has become more and more challenging and pressing under the current health crisis and it is included in the major objectives of the Covid-19 Recovery Plan aimed at reinforcing Europe’s resilience and autonomy.
A sustainable solution to solve the TCE supply problem is through recycling solid urban waste, in particular waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), where significant quantities of TCE are present. However, difficulties in the analysis of waste streams due to the lack of reliable analytical methods for TCE quantifications is a complicating factor.
The overall objective of the MetroCycleEU project is to enable the representative SI traceable determination of TCE up to µg/g mass fraction level in urban mine wastes. Transferable calibration methods and appropriate reference material will be produced to improve TCE recycling in the context of the circular economy.