Recognizing their pivotal role in achieving a climate-neutral society, SIM² KU Leuven advances the sustainable production and recycling of (critical/strategic) metals, minerals, and engineered materials through problem-driven, science-deep research, future-oriented education and wider-society learning.
SIM² KU Leuven’s scope ranges from geological exploration, extraction, processing and refining of (primary) metals and minerals; the upcycling of primary and secondary inorganic residues; to the remanufacturing, demanufacturing and recycling of End-of-Life complex metal-containing products obtained from urban mining. SIM² KU Leuven assesses the environmental, health, and economic aspects of metal and mineral production value chains, to pinpoint where further improvements can be made in view of ESG-friendly and cost-effective processes.
To build up trust in society for responsible mining, refining and recycling of metals and minerals, SIM² KU Leuven pro-actively engages with external stakeholders, such as civil society, environmental organisations, local communities and policy makers. To support wider-society learning, SIM² KU Leuven invests in public outreach and communication activities including topical documentaries, vodcasts and interviews.
In 2020, the worldwide COVID-19 crisis swept across the globe, placing billions of individuals under lockdown. The pandemic had significant repercussions beyond the severe health impact, particularly on Europe’s raw material supply chains, as mining and processing operations came to a halt. The subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine caused similar disruptions in the supply chain. Anno 2024, we find ourselves in an increasingly volatile world. The shifting geopolitical landscape underscores that we can no longer take raw materials for granted.
Considering that the materials needed for electric vehicles, batteries, renewable energy, and several other key technologies enabling the transition to a climate-neutral economy are dominated by a small number of non-EU countries (often “not-like-minded” ones), it’s evident that Europe is in a precarious situation. We need to build more resilience to prevent Europe’s dependence on fossil fuels being replaced with a reliance on non-energy (critical) raw materials. Therefore, ensuring a diverse and sustainable supply of (critical) raw materials to the EU is a crucial, strategic, long-term issue for Europe. This has been recently recognised by the EU in its Critical Raw Materials Act, which establishes benchmarks for the domestic extraction, processing, and recycling of strategic and/or critical metals and other raw materials.”
A society that uses its resources in an efficient, effective, and sustainable way.
This Grand Societal Challenge is directly addressed by SIM² KU Leuven whose mission is “to develop, organise and implement problem-driven, science-deep research and future-oriented education, contributing to the environmentally friendly production and recycling of metals, minerals and engineered materials, supporting the transition to a climate-friendly, circular-economy.”
SIM² KU Leuven, therefore, designs, researches and exploits selective and efficient processes for the exploration, extraction, recovery, recycling and refining of (base and critical) metals and minerals, as well as for the upcycling of primary and secondary resources and the re- and demanufacturing of End-of-Life complex metal-containing products. SIM² KU Leuven assesses and advances the environmental gains and the economic feasibility of the developed flow sheets. In order to support the Social License to Operate for the associated industrial activities, SIM² KU Leuven pro-actively engages with external stakeholders, including civil society groups and local communities. SIM² KU Leuven also assesses the potential health and environmental impacts of (primary) mining activities to support the transition to responsible mining.
In order to provide the metals and minerals that are needed for the transition to a climate-neutral economy, SIM² KU Leuven has developed its own, thermodynamically-based view on the “circular economy”. SIM² KU Leuven tries to smartly close as many metals & minerals loops as possible, while also realising there is a need for (responsible) primary mining of a multitude of speciality metals (e.g. rare earths, cobalt, lithium) that are in high demand for e-mobility, renewable energy storage etc. These metals are not yet present in sufficient amounts in the technosphere, implying that even 100% recycling will not be enough in view of satisfying the rapidly growing demand for these metals to be used in diverse clean technologies. Likewise, SIM² KU Leuven acknowledges that there are inevitable losses during metals and minerals processing and that, in some cases, certain (hazardous) residues need final (safe) storage solutions rather than being recycled.
Finally, SIM² KU Leuven is not blind for our historic legacy: a comprehensive Circular Economy view should not just deal with the waste flows of the present but should also find an answer for the waste stocks of the past. Hence, SIM² KU Leuven has been an ambassador for the Enhanced Landfill Mining agenda, which targets both stocks of extractive waste/industrial residues (including Waste-to-Energy residues) and Urban Solid Waste/Municipal Solid Waste. Only then can we genuinely claim to overcome the Dark Side of the Circular Economy.
SIM² KU Leuven has existed as an interdisciplinary research line within KU Leuven MRC since 2011. The establishment of SIM² KU Leuven was based on previous successes, which date back as far as 2003 when the HiTemp Centre was initiated at the Department of Materials Engineering. This Centre, which still exists today, was set up as an Academic Competence and Service Centre, structurally funded by several world-leading, Flemish-based metallurgical companies, including Umicore and Aperam. Subsequently, the Centre led to interdisciplinary collaborations with other research groups at KU Leuven, both within the Department of Materials and beyond, in the field of geology, building materials, chemical metallurgy, demanufacturing and recycling, environmental and techno-economic assessment, policy research, process psychology etc. Here below the reader can view the timeline of the various collaborations, platforms programmes and projects developed through SIM² KU Leuven are summarised, showing that the SIM² KU Leuven cluster grew “organically”.
SIM² KU Leuven is the KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals, one of the flagship KU Leuven Institutes. SIM² mission is to develop, organise and implement problem-driven, science-deep research and future-oriented education, contributing to the environmentally friendly production and recycling of metals, minerals and engineered materials, supporting the transition to a climate-friendly, circular-economy.
KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals