The first run of our massive open online course “Critical raw materials: managing resources for a sustainable future” was launched on 13th October and went over 7 weeks. As part of the MOOC, there is a business idea competition open for everyone that has an idea about how critical raw materials can be managed more sustainably. The submitted ideas will go through a review process by the experts from the course and the three best ideas will win 500€ and an exclusive expert consultation hour. The competition is open until end of this year, 31st of December. More information about it and the submission instructions can be found on the […]

At the European Commission’s Raw Materials Week 2021, IRTC-Business held a workshop on “How companies improve critical raw materials circularity”. The workshop aimed at showing good practice examples of business strategies that enable a more circular use of critical raw materials. The examples ranged from the recycling of hard disk drives, chemical catalysts and solar panels to repairable consumer electronics and circular business models for turbine blades and traction batteries. Furthermore, ongoing and upcoming relevance of the topic for sectors such as telecommunication, finance and data science were presented and discussed. Speakers included representatives from Hitachi Group, Umicore, Rolls Royce, First Solar, Fairphone, Carester, KPN and KPMG, as well as […]