Found: ensure resilience in supply chains for critical sectors, for example on semiconductors, batteries and critical

Found: photovoltaic panels, wind power systems and batteries for energy storage. 128 Of the 18 recognised critical

Found: Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 2013, ‘Policy Paper: Resilience for the Future: The UK’s Critical

Found: assessment have the Department made around the natural resource requirements (eg water consumption, critical

Found: Anthropocene,” The Center for Erin Sikorsky, Director, Center for Climate and Security CCS0034 valuable critical

Found: of the net zero transition: providing low carbon heat, dispatchable power and sustainably sourced critical

Found: Q225 Vicky Ford: I am going to talk about critical minerals.

Found: a little bit further up the supply chain, where we are not necessarily blessed with a lot of the critical

Found: artisanal and small-scale mining sites in the DRC – International Energy Agency (2023) The Role of Critical

Found: Globally, there is increased concern around critical minerals, green technology and the rise of authoritarian

Found: They use different economic levers—for example, cutting off access to the rare earths and critical

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the scale of e-waste; and what steps they are taking to address this.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this it recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across their complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.

Defra also published a consultation and a call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 with a view to improving levels of collection for re-use and recycling, improving treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE and wider measures in support of the circular economy. The consultation and call for evidence closed on 7 March. Defra is currently analysing the responses and will publish a summary of responses in due course.

The current regulations require producers to finance the collection and proper treatment of WEEE which has stimulated investment in WEEE treatment infrastructure.

Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 obligated producers are required to obtain Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs), as evidence that a certain tonnage of packaging waste that has been recycled. The sale of PRNs generates millions of pounds of revenue a year for reprocessors and exporters of packaging waste (circa £490m in 2022), which should be re-invested to support development of the necessary recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve data collection, mapping, and tracking of critical minerals and other material streams within electrical and electronic equipment.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across there complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal. In addition, Defra also published a consultation and call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013. This sought evidence in support of future policy measures intended to improve treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE. Defra is currently analysing and will publish a summary in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to improve (a) data collection, (b) mapping and (c) tracking of (i) critical minerals and (ii) other material streams in (A) electrical and (B) electronic equipment.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra has recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across there complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal. In addition, Defra also published a consultation and call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013. This sought evidence in support of future policy measures intended to improve treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE. Defra is currently analysing and will publish a summary in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to (a) support the development of recycling (i) infrastructure and (ii) technologies and (b) help enable increased recovery of (A) critical minerals and (B) other materials.

Answered by Robbie Moore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this it recently announced the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across there complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.

Defra also published a consultation and a call for evidence on reforms to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 with a view to improving levels of collection for re-use and recycling, improving treatment standards and critical mineral recovery from WEEE and wider measures in support of the circular economy. The consultation and call for evidence closed on 7 March. Defra is currently analysing the responses and will publish a summary of responses in due course.

The current regulations require producers to finance the collection and proper treatment of WEEE which has stimulated investment in WEEE treatment infrastructure. Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 obligated producers are required to obtain Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs), as evidence that a certain tonnage of packaging waste that has been recycled. The sale of PRNs generates millions of pounds of revenue a year for reprocessors and exporters of packaging waste (circa £490m in 2022), which should be re-invested to support development of the necessary recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve recycling infrastructure and technologies to enable the increased recovery of critical minerals and other materials.

Answered by Lord Douglas-Miller - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this we announced in February the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. The centre will deliver solutions that will promote recycling and Circular Economy solutions across a range of important minerals and metals, including Critical Minerals. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across their complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.

Further, Government recently consulted on proposals to reform the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations and will consult in the summer on reforms to the Batteries Regulations, with the intention in both cases of improving the collection and treatment of waste products and materials at end-of-life.

Found: the development of other clean energy  technologies, as well as by advancing negotiations towards a Critical

Found: ensure resilience in supply chains for critical sectors, for example on semiconductors, batteries and critical

Found: ensure resilience in supply chains for critical sectors, for example on semiconductors, batteries and critical

Found: shortages of raw materials used in semiconductor production or production of other technologies (e.g., critical