On 14 March, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) launched a public consultation on the roadmap for the sustainable management of essential and renewable raw materials.

The route defined by the government has 46 lines of action to meet the sustainability targets set out. These paths involve both short and long-term actions, and they include regulatory instruments to create a new regulatory framework for the sector, sectoral instruments, cross-cutting instruments and measures aimed at boosting R&D&I.

Specifically, the roadmap proposes four strategic guidelines to outline a national mineral raw materials policy. The first guideline consists on establishing as a fundamental pillar in this roadmap the principles of efficiency and circular economy in the value chains of search and supply of mineral raw materials. In this regard, the idea is to integrate the objectives and lines of action of the Estrategia España Circular 2030 (a new Circular Economy Strategy) for the extractive industry.

The second guideline is an opportunity to promote and consolidate the sustainable management of local materials in the Spanish extractive industry. Thirdly, the focus is on guaranteeing security of supply and compliance with environmental, geostrategic and social justice requirements in the import of these raw materials.

Finally, according to MITECO, the roadmap will also promote the industry of strategic mineral raw materials for the energy and digital transition, in particular, the industry aimed at the implementation and massive use of renewable energies, the production of batteries for electric vehicles and the medium and long-term storage of energy.

In conclusion, the government has launched a public consultation on the roadmap to be followed in the coming years in order to achieve the objective of a sustainable management of both essential mineral raw materials (especially those needed for the production and use of batteries) and renewables.

Energy Area