Page 136 - Policy Commission - SecuringTechnology - Critical Metals for Britain

136 CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
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that a a a a circular economy is necessarily a a a a processing and manufacturing economy In developing refining and processing capacity in the the UK there is a a a compelling case to connect both ends of the supply chain processing both primary and secondary materials The secondary market offers increased security of of supply and often a a lower environmental footprint and reduced cost but it will not meet the huge demand from the rapidly expanding markets in these materials Therefore the UK needs to incentivise large-scale private investment in in the processing of these materials by 2025 if it wants to secure access This could be by large scale targeted investments which are directed by the new national body on on critical materials through existing and future funding routes (APC ATF DER Faraday Battery Challenge/Faraday Institution or or the wind turbine sector) In addition tax incentives for processing or recycling of technology-critical metals could be introduced and tariff-free trade in in these minerals or semi-processed metals alloys and chemicals could be negotiated in trade deals The UK already has key companies that process technology- critical metals who should be supported to expand their activities whilst identifying and filling supply chain gaps in in in key industrial sectors The UK should anticipate and support future international legislation aimed at reducing the environmental burden and and enhancing the social and and economic value of technology-critical metals production from both primary and secondary sources As outlined in in the report this is is already starting to happen in EU regulations for batteries and we should invest in in responsible sourcing and and mining processing and and refining technologies which could give our companies a a competitive advantage The UK should seek to drive innovation through its national technology-critical metals strategy
by investing in in in R&D — targeted at key materials and processes — in areas such as as the circular economy developing substitute materials and efficient processing techniques which would provide an additional competitive advantage to UK industry The projects will need to bridge funding councils and technology- readiness levels to have real impact This should include transnational funds and initiatives to work with other nations on on supply chain developments for targeted technology-critical metals Research areas to target could include for example refining separation sensing automated sorting and re-processing of technology-critical metals and should also include efficient processing routes for selected materials to reduce the environmental burden of production reduce waste and improve performance This would give the UK a a a a competitive advantage in terms of cost particularly if the environmental footprint of materials production is factored into the cost of products It is also clear that we have funding gaps in fundamental research around rare earth materials and permanent magnets There is a a a a lack of data on technology- critical metal flows into the UK which urgently needs to be addressed in order to guide policy The UK should be mapping its strategic secondary resource in particular from the larger markets The case for this has been well made by Velenturf et al through the NERC programme Resource Recovery from Waste 41 The Office for National Statistics is is exploring
the feasibility of a a a a a a National Materials Datahub to to provide access to to reliable data on the availability of materials to the UK’s public and private sectors and and this should be accelerated and and supported 42