Optimise the usage of resources in a circular economy (RIA) (Processes4Planet and Clean Steel partnerships)

Expected Outcome:Projects are expected to contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:Material recycling and upcycling are significantly enhanced compared to the state of the art through technology development along the value chain and integrated value chain optimisation, leading to reduced GHG and air pollutant emissions;Through the recycling of (iron-containing or other) production waste / residuals / by-products or optimisation of the recovery of critical / strategic raw materials or ferroalloys, the EU’s dependencies on imports from single or very limited numbers of country suppliers are reduced, and the yields of recycling of production-waste / by-products are increased;The usage of raw materials, fresh water and energy is minimised, and ecosystem and habitat degradation avoided;The impact of impurities in materials produced for special applications of strategic importance for European environmental, social and governance (ESG)[1] sustainability is reduced by either minimising their amount or by modification of impurity-material-structure, morphology, and properties;Cost efficient use of resources is reached with minimal energy usage and optimized use of labour. Scope:The topic aims to optimise the efficiency of materials, water and energy use by recycling and upcycling of side streams from production and end-of-use waste, to become more competitive, safe and sustainable. Material production becomes less dependent on imports and / or use of non-renewable materials by improving recovery along the value chain, developing and upscaling low-CO2 processes to recover materials, including to replace current efficient but CO2-intensive recycling.The continuity and high resource demand for materials and energy of industrial processes need dependable availability of resources. The attainment of this target requires moving away from primary, often expensive, and rare resources, by the re-integration and valorisation of secondary resources (end-of-use waste) and i