The education project SusCritMat (Sustainable Management of Critical Raw Materials) successfully completed its first workshop in January 2018. The pilot project, funded by EIT Raw Materials, offers a new approach to professional education for industry and academia representatives, researchers as well as scholars around the management and development of strategies for critical raw materials. The aim of the workshop is to provide the participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to optimize the usage of our resources. The Fraunhofer Project Group Materials Recycling and Resource Strategies IWKS is one of the partners supporting the project and responsible for developing the general didactic concept. The aim is to educate the participants according to their needs and requirements.

From January 15th to 19th, 2018, students, professors as well as industry representatives used the chance to participate in lectures, hands-on exercises and lively discussions with the experts from the SusCritMat project consortium. The interdisciplinary approach of the workshop allowed a comprehensive reflection and assessment of critical raw materials along the entire value chain. During an introduction at the beginning of the workshop, the participants learned how criticality of raw materials was dealt with in the recent past and received an overview about the current global demand. Additionally, the workshop also covered criticality indicators, material flow analysis as well as different aspects that play an important role for the analysis of critical materials, such as environmental impact. Social and political aspects as well as waste management and recycling were also part of the theoretic part. Last but not least, the participants gained an over-view on environmental-friendly product design, design for recycling and the concept of circular economy, which all aim at establishing a closed-loop life cycle for valuable materials.
 
During the four-day workshop, the participants were divided into different working groups that each had to examine a specific product component from a company’s per-spective. Each group was assigned the task to identify the critical raw materials contained in their product and to assess the related risks. Furthermore, they had to develop a strategy for the handling of these materials and to minimize risks. The result was presented in the plenary session at the end of the Winter School. The analysis was performed according to the aspects described above, including life cycle, material flow, ecological and social impact, resource efficiency, policies, certification and standards as well as price development and recycling. Amon others, the groups examined an EMV chip on a credit card, the display of a mobile phone, the battery of an e-bike, the solar panel of a lamp as well as glass fibers in a telecommunications system. All products were physically available for examination on site.

Based on the positive feedback of the participants and the high quality of the presented results, this new educational approach was a complete success. All presentations and working groups showed a deep understanding of their respective topics as well as for the assessment and development of strategies for the application of critical raw materials. The participants praised the opportunity to be able to directly apply their gained theoretical knowledge and therefore solve problems with a high practical orientation.

The next workshop of the series is already set: The SusCritMat Autumn School for Professionals will take place from October 24th to 26th, 2018 at TU Delft, the Netherlands, and is specifically targeted to industry representatives. With a good mix of theory and hands-on exercises, the participants of SusCritMat Autumn School for Professionals will be able to directly apply their gained knowledge in their daily work. Efficient resource management is not only a means to save costs, but it also helps to reduce risks.

More information on the project and the registration for the next workshop can be found here.