IRTC 2023
Conference Program
First IRTC conference
Raw materials for a sustainable future
About the Conference
IRTC23 will be all about dialogue on raw materials for a sustainable future. Raw materials play an important role in economic and technological development of, among others, the renewable & digital transition. At the same time, supply of many raw materials heavily depends on precarious and unsustainable supply chains. This conference brings together international leading experts, practitioners and participants, to exchange perspectives and engage in in-depth discussions on how to assess and manage raw materials and criticality, and to explore the potential of different strategies to secure supply. Therefore, IRTC23 welcomes a diverse audience from industry, academics and policy-making concerned with raw materials for a sustainable future.
Conference structure
Keynote Conversations
In a series of keynote conversations, international criticality experts will share their perspectives on critical raw materials for a sustainable future in moderated in-depth discussions.
Talks by Practitioners and Researchers
Practitioners and researchers in the field of critical raw materials are invited to contribute to the shape and content of the conference by sharing their work or case on critical raw materials in relation to thematic sessions as presented in the program below. The sessions will be chaired by multidisciplinary teams of experts to facilitate a discussion with the presenters.
Session Chairs will select the most novel contributions for publication in a special issue of the journal Mineral Economics.
Participants
Participants are invited to join the two-and-a-half-day conference to meet colleagues, keynote speakers and conference Chairs, to engage in discussions in the sessions and to join the networking activities. On-site participation will be limited to around 180 people to encourage meaningful discussions and networking. Online participation in the sessions will be possible.
Timeline
August 31, 2022: Opening of abstract registration system
October 11, 2022: Opening of conference registration
October 24, 2022: Abstract submission deadline
November 30, 2022: Information on review results
December 2, 2022: Full programme available
December 15, 2002: End of early-bird registration
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Conference program
Wednesday, February 15 – Workshops
10:00
Welcome Coffee
10:30
A. Resource and criticality challenges in diverse lead industrial sectors
Organisers: Nabeel Mancheri (REIA), Naeem Adibi (WeLOOP)
B. IRTC-Training workshop
Part I: Open stakeholder consultation workshop
Organisers: IRTC Education Expert Committee
C. Critical Raw Materials Management: UNFC and UNRMS as the Sustainable Transition Pathway
Part I: Navigating the Challenges of Critical Raw Materials: An Overview of UNFC and UNRMS
Organisers: Harikrishnan Tulsidas, Charlotte Griffiths, Slavko Solar (UNECE)
12:00
Conference registration and lunch buffet
Pre-workshop refreshment
13:30
A. Resource and criticality challenges in diverse lead industrial sectors
Part II: Battery and data centre equipment (with CEDaCI project)
B. IRTC-Training workshop
Part II: IRTC-Business Decision Tool training: Understand raw material risks in the supply chain
C. Critical Raw Materials Management: UNFC and UNRMS as the Sustainable Transition Pathway
Part II: UNFC and UNRMS in Action: Best Practices and Case Studies
15:30
Coffee break
16:00
Open plenary discussion with the Conference Chairs
Current geopolitical events and Critical Raw Materials:
What to expect from the future, and how can we still collaborate?
Darina Blagoeva (JRC, Europe), Claudia Baranzelli (OECD), Gian Andrea Blengini (Politecnico di Torino, Italy), Patrice Christmann (KRYSMINE), Roderick Eggert (Colorado School of Mines), Carolin Friedrich (Stakeholder Consulting), Roland Gauss (EIT RawMaterials), Christoph Helbig (University of Bayreuth, Germany), Paul Lusty (BGS, United Kingdom), Anthony Ku (consultant, USA), Louis Maréchal (OECD), Simon Michaux (GTK, Finland), Luisa Moreno (Tahuti Global, Canada/Uganda) David Peck (TU Delft, Netherlands), Guido Sonnemann (University of Bordeaux, France), Akanksha Tyagi (CEEW, India), Patrick Wäger (Empa, Switzerland), Peng Wang (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
Moderated by Alessandra Hool (IRTC Coordinator)
Free access for everyone
Click here to join the Zoom meeting
17:30
Conference registration and welcome reception
Check-in, meet & greet
18:30
Apero-dinner
Snacks, drinks & networking
Thursday, February 16
08:00
Conference registration
08:30
Welcome by the conference organizers
08:45
Introductory remarks by Frédéric Motte (Région Hauts-de-France)
09:00
Opening speech by Bernd Schäfer (EIT RawMaterials)
09:15
Keynote conversation: Criticality
Roderick Eggert (Colorado School of Mines), Corina Hebestreit (European Carbon and Graphite Association) and Kotaro Shimizu (Mitsubishi UFJ); moderated by Luis Tercero (Fraunhofer ISI)
10:00
Session 1 – Criticality: Stakeholder perspectives
Chaired by Luisa Moreno (Tahuti Global), Magnus Ericsson (RMG Consulting) and Roland Gauss (EIT RawMaterials)
Session 2 – Criticality methods
Chaired by Gian Andrea Blengini (Politecnico di Torino), Christoph Helbig (University of Bayreuth) and Philip Nuss (German Federal Environment Agency)
10:00
Paradoxes in material criticality: revealing the multifaceted nature of the phenomenon
Yulia Lapko (Politecnico di Milano), David Peck (TU Delft)
Timeline and focus of major criticality studies
Michaela Schicho, Luis Tercero (Fraunhofer ISI, Germany)
10:15
Carbon neutral energy transition: “From Emissions to Resources”
Jan Mertens (ENGIE, Ghent University), Fanny Maigne, Olivier Sala, Peter Vervee, Luc Goossens, Elodie Lecadre (ENGIE)
New method and indicators to study mineral criticality from a French Administration’s perspective
Antoine Boubault (BRGM)
10:30
Niobium as a critical raw material for the world and strategic for Brazil
Carlos Peiter, Tiago Braga (Centre for Mineral Technology, Brazil), Gian Andrea Blegnini (Politecnico di Torino)
The IRTC web-tool to support companies in monitoring and mitigating raw material value chain risks
Dieuwertje Schrijvers, Alison Vandromme, Sana Almansour, Luigi Poggi (WeLOOP), Alessa Hool (ESM Foundation)
10:45
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
11:00
Coffee break
11:30
Session 1 – Criticality: Stakeholder perspectives
Chaired by Luisa Moreno, Magnus Ericsson and Roland Gauss
11:30
Ukraine, Russia, Belarus and global mineral supply
Magnus Ericson, Olof Löf (RMG Consulting)
Incorporating conflict risk of minerals and metals supply into life cycle assessment
Anish Koyamparambath (University of Bordeaux), Steven Young (University of Waterloo), Guido Sonnemann (University of Bordeaux)
11:45
Geography of control? A deep dive assessment on criticality and critical materials supply chains
Alberto Prina Cerai (independent analyst)
The Risks of “Recycling” Recycling Indicators: A Case Study of Tin
Jessie Bradley, Benjamin Sprecher (TU Delft), Rene Kleijn (Leiden University), Willem Auping (TU Delft)
12:00
Reducing demand for raw materials with car sharing & other (shared) mobility solutions and policies
Dani Sprecher (MyWheels)
Metal criticality assessment of sodium ion batteries
Shan Zhang, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
12:15
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
12:30
Highlight lecture by Pierre Heeroma, LKAB
The Rare Earth discovery in Kiruna and its impact on European supply security
12:50
Lunch + poster session
Standing lunch, networking & poster exhibition
14:00
Keynote conversation: Supplying critical raw materials
Karen Hanghøj (BGS), Gavin Mudd (RMIT) and Anders Sand (Boliden); moderated by Dieuwertje Schrijvers (WeLOOP)
14:45
Session 3 – Sourcing and trade
Chaired by Paul Lusty (BGS), Nedal Nassar (USGS) and Carlos Peiter (Centre for Mineral Technology, Brazil)
Session 4 – ESG and regulation
Chaired by Carolin Friedrich (Stakeholder Reporting), Louis Maréchal (OECD) and René Kleijn (Leiden University)
14:45
Examining three decades of global dysprosium supply chain through a material flow analysis
Disna Eheliyagoda (Aarhus University & Grundfos), Badrinath Veluri (Grundfos), Devarajan Ramanujan (Aarhus University), Gang Liu (University of Southern Denmark)
Global mineral resource governance for sustainable development
Paul Ekins (University College London, UNEP Resource Panel), Patrice Christmann (Krysmine)
15:00
Nickel supply: primary metallurgical processing capacity does not satisfy changing demand
Steven Young, Jamie Tauber (University of Waterloo)
Elements and Social Risk Assessment
Tatiana Vakhitova (ANSYS)
15:15
The revival of the RE French industry
Alain Rollat (Carester, France)
Applicability of Country Governance Indicators for Assessing Environmental and Social Criticality
Konstantin Kühnel (BGR), Philipp Schütte (BGR), Vanessa Bach (TU Berlin), Gudrun Franken (BGR), Matthias Finkbeiner (TU Berlin)
15:30
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
15:45
Coffee break
16:15
Session 3 – Sourcing and trade
Chaired by Paul Lusty, Nedal Nassar and Carlos Peiter
Session 4 – ESG and regulation
Chaired by René Kleijn, Carolin Friedrich and Louis Maréchal
16:15
Natural and synthetic graphite: Trade-offs between carbon footprint and supply risk
Aina Mas Fons, Anish Koyamparambath, Guido Sonnemann, Philippe Loubet (University of Bordeaux)
Digital Product Passport: precondition for sustainable global supply chains
Elmer Rietveld (TNO; Nethherlands)
16:30
Tracking the flows of rare earth elements (REEs) in permanent magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines in the UK to inform circular economy decisions
Wan-Ting Hsu, Evi Petavratzi, Eimear Deady, Narendra Singh (BGS), Markus Zils (University of Exeter)
Rethinking State Sovereignty over the Raw Materials in the era of planetary boundaries
Daria Boklan (National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia), Chamu Kuppuswamy (University of Hertfordshire)
16:45
Developing bottom-up understanding of primary copper supply under the shared socio-economic pathways
Stephen Northey, Damien Giurco (University of Technology Sydney, Australia), Mohan Yellishetty (Monash University, Australia), Stefan Pauliuk (University of Freiburg, Germany)
LIB recycling: A limited yet inevitable solution to cope with the impacts of criticality
Kim Luu, Naeem Adibi (WeLOOP, France)
17:00
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
17:15
Poster session
19:00
Dinner
Common conference dinner
Restaurant L’assiette du Marché
61 rue de la Monnaie – 59000 Lille
www.assiettedumarche.com
Friday, February 17
08:00
Conference registration
08:30
Welcome and recap of day 1
08:45
Introductory remarks by Constanze Veeh (DG GROW)
09:00
Industry intervention by Xavier Constant (Nyrstar)
09:15
Keynote conversation: Changing demand and how to address it
Tom Graedel (Yale University), Toru Muta (IEA) and Paul Ekins (UCL); moderated by Alessa Hool (ESM Foundation)
10:00
Chaired by Akanksha Tyagi (CEEW India), Patrick Wäger (Empa) and Darina Blagoeva (JRC)
Session 6 – Design for circularity
Chaired by Tatiana Vakhitova (ANSYS), Komal Habib (University of Waterloo) and David Peck (TU Delft)
10:00
Critical materials demand for electrolysers and supply chain dependencies for the EU
Darina Blagoeva, Samuel Carrara (Joint Research Center, European Commission, The Netherlands)
Design and Circularity of Data Centre Equipment
Deborah Andrews, Kristina Kerwin (London South Bank University)
10:15
Exploring different electric vehicle and battery scenarios on critical raw material demand in the UK
Sophie Kempston (University of Warwick)
Circular economy systems for lithium-ion batteries
Nina Meyer (University of St. Gallen, Switzerland)
10:30
An operational actions strategy for global real change, the International Resource Transition Strategy
Harald Sverdrup (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences), Wouter van Dieren, Marcel Vester (Inis Vitrin, Ilpendam, The Netherlands)
Recycling of rare earth elements from electric motors of the e-mobility
Gianluca Torta, Fabrizio Passarini (University of Bologna, Italy)
10:45
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
11:00
Coffee break
11:30
Chaired by Akanksha Tyagi, Patrick Wäger and Darina Blagoeva
Session 6 – Design for circularity
Chaired by Tatiana Vakhitova, Komal Habib and David Peck
11:30
Insights from three historical critical metal cases: Learning for the future
Sampriti Mahanty, Frank Boons, Gavin D.J. Harper (University of Manchester, NICER circular economy centre for technology metals)
Addressing criticality in rare earths through the decarbonization in permanent magnets recycling
Denis Prodius, Ikenna C. Nlebedim (Critical Materials Institute, Ames Laboratory)
11:45
Material scarcity and the energy transition: an integrated LCA – IAM perspective
Christian Bauer, Romain Sacchi, Alvaro Hahn (Paul Scherrer Institute)
Circular PV Modules
Perine Fleury, Tim Kaasjager (Biosphere Solar)
12:00
A low carbon hydrogen economy in the UK: decarbonisation drives long-term PGM demand growth
Francesca Price (BGS)
Circularity index for product design: a case study of car-based mobility
Gabriel Carmona (University of Cambridge), Kai Whiting (University of Leuven), Jonathan Cullen (University of Cambridge)
12:15
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
12:30
Lunch & poster prize
Standing lunch, networking & announcement of poster award
14:00
Keynote conversation: Addressing criticality in policy and industry
Anthony Ku (consultant), Patrick D’Hugues (BRGM) and Min-Ha Lee (KITECH); moderated by Nabeel Mancheri (REIA)
14:45
Session 7 – Industry case studies
Chaired by Gwendolyn Bailey (Umicore), Naeem Abidi (WeLOOP) and Orlando Rios (University of Tennessee)
Session 8 – Policy case studies
Chaired by Peng Wang (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Evi Petavratzi (BGS) and Guido Sonnemann (University of Bordeaux)
14:45
Repurposing and recycling of lithium-ion batteries: Identifying favorable use cases.
Surinder Singh, Ratnesh Sharma (Relyion Energy Inc), Anthony Ku (Foresight Transitions Ltd)
Criticality assessment, circularity, EU open strategic autonomy and Sustainable Product Initiative: how to join the dots?
Umberto Eynard, Thibaut Maury-Micolier, Fabrice Mathieux, Fulvio Ardente (JRC)
15:00
Critical Minerals Strategy and the Circular Economy for Technology Metals
Frances Wall, Carol Pettit (University of Exeter)
How worldwide coordinated research funding answers raw materials challenges: a case study
Dina Carrilho (FCT Portugal)
15:15
MagREEsource: the green Rare Earth Magnet company
Sophie Rivoirard, Erick Petit (MagREEsource)
OFREMI, the French Observatory on mineral resources for Industrial sector, a public/private partnership
Stéphane Bourg, Christophe Poinssot, Patrick D’Hugues (OFREMI)
15:30
Discussion with speakers and the audience, led by the Session Chairs
15:45
Coffee break
16:15
Summary of the sessions
16:45
Closing
17:00
Farewell Apéritif
Drinks & goodbyes
Session 1 – Criticality: stakeholder perspectives
Criticality means something different to a local government than to a multinational company, to a company that controls raw material sources than to a company that relies on supply by others, to a nation endowed with large and varied geological deposits than to one without such an endowment. This session explores different perspectives on criticality that arise from the position of the focal actors.
Session 2 – Criticality methods
This session features existing and emerging methods for criticality determination. It explores the usefulness of indicators and the applicability of methodologies to different contexts.
Session 3 – Sourcing and trade
This sessions explores the distribution of primary and secondary supply, its concentration and issues arising from concentrated supply. Furthermore, trade, trade restrictions and geopolitical issues are tied to global raw material sourcing and key considerations in this session.
Session 4 – ESG and regulation
There is an obligation and increased societal and political pressure to better address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues along value chains. Negative ESG impacts across materials’ value chains can make them more critical – by increasing supply risks, or as a separate dimension of concern. This session explores ESG issues related to critical raw materials, including but not limited to reputational risks for companies, risk mitigation measures, regulatory measures, and the state and effectiveness of transparency initiatives.
Session 6 – Design for circularity
Product designers play a key role in determining the current use of raw materials, the longevity of products and the future availability of secondary raw materials. This session highlights current challenges in design as they pertain to the reduced use or substitution of critical raw materials, conflicts between different design dimensions, and best practice examples for reconciling product function and reduced criticality at all scales (company to global) through design for recycling, reuse, remanufacturing, repair, and reduction.
Session 7 – Addressing criticality: Industry case studies
This session features case studies from industries dealing with criticality: by risk screening, substitution efforts, fostering recycling, increasing transparency, transitioning to business models to improve resource sustainment, and/or other mitigation measures to reduce risks throughout the supply chain.
Session 8 – Addressing criticality: Policy case studies
Policy plays a decisive role in incentivizing and supporting supply risk screening and management. How can they help to effectively mitigate risks for vulnerable industries? In this session, we expect international examples and experiences with policies that aim at favorable framework conditions for risk mitigation and resource conservation.
Session 5 – Changing demand
Technological change is a key driver for changing raw material demand, with megatrends such as electric mobility, digitalization and the energy transition expected to drive demand for critical raw materials in the coming decades. This session focuses on scenarios and the (possible) measures by companies and governments to meet this challenge in a responsible and timely manner, as well as competition for the available raw materials, not only between countries or companies in the emerging uses, but also between these and the current users of the critical raw materials.