Securing Technology-Critical Metals for Britain

The UK government has committed to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, catalysing substantial growth in the clean energy sector. As a result, the demand for materials such as rare earths, used in magnets, cobalt, used in lithium ion batteries and platinum group metals that are key to clean energy technologies, continues to increase as we move to a carbon-neutral society.

However, these materials are deemed ‘critical’ as their supply is restricted by a range of geological, economic, technological and political factors even as global demand increases. For example, there has been significant attention in recent months on the potential for critical materials to be used as leverage in trade disputes.

To address this challenge the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials and the Critical Elements and Materials (CrEAM) Network have drawn together a panel of experts to help secure the future UK supply of technology-critical materials. The "Securing Technology-Critical Materials for Britain" Policy Commission aims to develop a UK strategy for the supply of so-called strategic elements and critical materials – components of many modern technologies that are vital to the UK economy. For example, critical materials underpin future supply chains in the automotive, energy generation, robotics and electronics sectors.

The Policy Commission is chaired by former Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington and is supported by a panel of expert commissioners that represent the full materials supply chain. These commissioners provided expertise on policy, technology, trade, regulation, ethics and national security to formulate a series of recommendations to securing UK interests in this sector.

Download the Securing Technology-Critical Metals for Britain Policy Commission Report - April 2021 (PDF -20mb)

Securing Technology-Critical Metals for Britain

Transcript

Unidentified female voice: The Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials, and the Critical Elements and Materials Network (also known as CrEAM), have collaborated with Sir John Beddington to consider what policy measures will be key to Securing Technology Metals for Britain, and ensuring the United Kingdom's supply of strategic elements and critical materials for a clean future.

All around the world, nations are rapidly shifting to green, low-carbon technologies, transforming whole industries and sectors at a rapid pace. These technologies are reliant on critical materials, a subset of which are technology metals. These technology metals are crucial for their performance and operation. Both the primary resources and the processing capability for these materials are not uniformly distributed around the globe. However, they are of strategic economic importance to the UK, and some are at risk of short supply. Securing access to these technology metals will be critical for UK industry.

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the fragility of these global supply chains. Furthermore, our trading relationship with countries around the world is changing. The UK's departure from the EU will mean that it now has to consider its own independent strategy for critical materials and technology metals. We have been working on policy recommendations that can help the UK harness the enormous economic opportunity that could come from securing technology metals for Britain. But given the rapid pace of change and the global race to gain access to these materials, timely action is of the essence.

There are several ways that materials criticality can be avoided: by reusing and recycling critical materials at the end of their lives; developing advanced recycling technologies to extract these materials from complex products; by diversifying supplies of critical materials; investing in new primary resources and the indigenous processing capacity to refine these materials; by investing in science and innovation to develop technologies that substitute critical materials for those containing more earth abundant elements; and by improved regulation around the consumption and use of these materials, with social and business model interventions to reduce the quantity of these materials our society uses. The ideal scenario is a net zero circular economy that conserves resources, cuts emissions, and increases recycling—all the while creating jobs, growth, and prosperity for the United Kingdom.