“Making the circular economy a reality”A resource industry perspective

Dr Michelle Wyart-RemyIMA-Europe Secretary General

15th EP Ceramics ForumEuropean Parliament, 3 December 2014

The European IM industry

500 companies (685 mines & quarries, 750 plants)

42,500 employees 180 million tonnes/year, EUR 10 billion turnover

28 European Countriesi.e. 24 EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine

The sector counts ~60% SMEsMost major global IM producers are EU based

What are Industrial Minerals? (IM)

Industrial minerals: geological materials which are mined for their commercial value. They are used in their natural state or after beneficiation in a wide range of applications

IM include barites, bentonite, borates, clays, diatomite, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, limestone, silica sand, talc, and many others

The Industrial Minerals industry umbrella organisationof 10 European associations

e.g. KPC-Europe: European Kaolin & Plastic Clays Association

http://www.ima-europe.eu/

23.01.14 4

IM indispensable to the manufacturing industry

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CERAMICS contain up to 100% minerals

Catalysts supportsTableware Tiles & bricks Sanitary ware

Photovoltaic solar cellsWind turbine

Water treatmentand filtration

Gas treatment

A material science based industry

Innovative ingredients for green & high-tech industry

Electronics

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Industrial Mineral Resource Efficiency is manifold

1. Primary resource efficiency: sustainable extraction & processing1

2. Efficiency of usage: improving performances in applications, they enable savings in downstream sectors

3. Secondary resource efficiency: by-products and waste valorisation

4. Recycling of their end-applications: IM are recovered

(1) “In terms of material extraction, industrialised economies are characterised by the lowest material intensities (or highest eco-efficiency), with Europe being world-leader” SERI Report 2011

Resource productivity, measured by GDP relative to Raw Material Consumption (GDP:RMC) is suggested as a candidate for a resource productivity target.

A target increasing resource productivity by 30% would also have a positive impact on job creation and growth of GDP.

A resource productivity target, while not binding and set at the level of the EU, would provide an impetus for those Member States that do not already have a target at national level to develop measures that take account of resource use.

Decision should take into account the outcome of the public consultation on the EU 2020 Strategy review

(1) COM(2014)398 Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe

Circular Economy Package1 & Resource Productivity

Bio IS 2012

Minerals 50% of EU Domestic Material Consumption (DMC)

EU dependency on imported Raw Materials

Minerals count for 3-5% of EU imports!

• “A well-established method which fits well with current available datasets (such as official statistics), allowing for a breakdown of results by materials, sector or industry” - NO!

RMC is not assessed in all MS, it will hardly be assessed in importsIt is derived through modelling raw material equivalent in goods

• “Whilst the indicator is weight-based, it reflects environmental impacts reasonably well.” - NO – it just reflects density1!

Around 50% DMC (or RMC) represent minerals, i.e. materials

- which are geologically not scarce- produced in the EU with a low import dependency (~5%)

- with lower environmental impact than other materials in DMC

Resource productivity as a lead indicator

(1) Density of a substance is its mass per unit volume

• Raw Materials Consumption (RMC): neither reflects environmental impacts, nor the value of resources for the economy in terms of functionality and performance of materials e.g. 1 tonne talc ≠1 tonne platinum

• GDP/RMC does not reflect resource productivity across sectors/value chains

Consumption slowdown may be due to economic or financial crisis

• Incentives to enhance decoupling cannot be based only on raw materials content: taxing primary resources, without comparing resource environmental impacts will be discriminatory

(1) Density (of a substance is its mass per unit volume

Raw Material Consumption should not be used

A few guiding principles addressing the

• Target setting should not be an end in itself

• Primary raw materials will remain essential to Europe’s growth

• A consistent primary and secondary raw materials policy

• A life-cycle thinking based on a full supply chain and sectoral approach guaranteeing proportionality

• Subsidiarity should apply down to the relevant local level

A variety of EU industries share the same opinion on resource efficiency

Representing various segments of the European resources producing industry and manufacturing industry , these sectors have a strong commitment to

contribute to the EU economic growth & societal wealth through a sustainable production and management of these invaluable resources

Thank you for your attention!More about IMA-Europe

http://www.ima-europe.eu

Dr Michelle Wyart-RemyIMA - Europe, BrusselsTel: +322 210 44 10secretariat@ima-europe.eu