Governments designate critical raw materials (CRM) (also referred to as critical materials or critical minerals) as critical for their economies so there is no single list of such

raw material A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials/Intermediate goods that are feedstock for future finished ...

s as the list varies from country to country as does the definition of critical. They include

technology-critical element A technology-critical element (TCE) is a chemical element that is a critical raw material for modern and emerging technologies, resulting in a striking increase in their usage. Similar terms include critical elements, critical materials, energy-cr ...

rare-earth element The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or rare earths, and sometimes the lanthanides or lanthanoids (although scandium and yttrium, which do not belong to this series, are usually included as rare earths), are a set o ...

s and

strategic material Strategic material is any sort of raw material that is important to an individual's or organization's strategic plan and supply chain management. Lack of supply of strategic materials may leave an organization or government vulnerable to disrup ...

History and background

Analyzing the historical development of country approaches to critical materials, David Peck discusses the interplay between those that emphasize economic growth ("tech will fix it") and those that argue that finite resources will be exhausted ("limits to growth"). These two approaches are a feature of debate around critical materials and both are important, while countries also act in self-interest as well as responding to geopolitical tensions.

Terminology and country definitions

For advanced industrial economies the commonly used terms "critical minerals" or "critical raw materials" refer to materials required for their strategic industries where there is a risk of interruption to supply. The Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) is a

transnational association An international organization, also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is an organization that is established by a treaty or other type of instrument governed by international law and possesses its own leg ...

whose members seek to secure a stable supply of raw materials for their economies. On 5 April 2024, MSP partners launched the Minerals Security Partnership Forum to enhance cooperation in respect of CRM critical to "green and digital transitions".

Criticality

According to the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), criticality has no agreed definition, varies with time, and is specific to country and context.

US

2023 Final Critical Materials List includes critical materials for energy (sometimes known as the "electric 18") together with 50 critical minerals.

EU

The

Critical Raw Materials Act Since 2011, the European Commission has triennially assessed a list of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), with 14 CRMs identified in 2011, 20 in 2014, 27 in 2017, 30 in 2020 and 34 in 2023. These materials are mainly used in energy transition and digit ...

came into effect on 23 May 2024. It specifies a list of 34 CRM, including 17 raw materials considered strategic.

UK

The ''Critical Minerals Strategy, Resilience for the Future'' was published in July 2022, updated in March 2023. As of December 2023, the UK does not produce any of the 18 identified highly critical CRMwhile a watchlist of increasingly critical materials includes

Iridium Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...

, Manganese, Nickel, Phosphates and

Ruthenium Ruthenium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is a rare transition metal belonging to the platinum group of the periodic table. Like the other metals of the platinum group, ruthenium is unreactive to most chem ...

. In November 2024, the ''UK 2024 Criticality Assessment'' commissioned by the

Department for Business and Trade The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a February 2023 British cabinet resh ...

, was published by the Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, a unit of the

British Geological Survey The British Geological Survey (BGS) is a partly publicly funded body which aims to advance Earth science, geoscientific knowledge of the United Kingdom landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. ...

. The report identified 34 minerals as critical. Aluminium, chromium, germanium, iron and nickel were added to the 2021 list while palladium was removed. By fostering sustainable planning and design, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

could reduce its demand for limited resources while supporting long-term economic resilience. Additionally, the report emphasizes the need for a circular economy. Enhancing the recovery, reuse, and recycling of materials would ensure that these resources re-enter the supply chain, and even look at formal processes such as a

safer end of engineering life Safer End of Engineering Life, sometimes abbreviated to SEEL, is a concept that focuses on the importance of considering the entire lifecycle of a product or system. Currently there is a lot of focus on the decommissioning or retirement in partic ...

. The UK’s National Engineering Policy Centre released a report into critical materials in the United Kingdom in 2024. It studied ways of reducing the UK's demand for critical materials, especially in infrastructure, through changes to planning, design and end-of-life of technologies like

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

batteries,

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that wind power, converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of list of most powerful wind turbines, large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over ...

s, and also digital devices. The report also warns that without strategic interventions to reduce critical material dependency, the UK risks jeopardising its

net zero Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

objectives and facing economic instability due to material shortages. It also suggested that the country could and should produce an integrated materials strategy. This strategy calls for the establishment of a National Materials Data Hub to monitor material usage and assess supply chain risks. The hub could support the UK with a comprehensive policy framework to better manage material consumption and avoid future shortages. Furthermore, the report stressed the importance of incorporating material requirements into the early planning stages of infrastructure projects, particularly in energy, transport, and digital systems. This proactive approach can help prevent potential disruptions caused by material scarcity. The National Engineering Policy Centre report outlines specific recommendations to reduce the UK’s use and consumption of critical materials. One of its most ambitious targets is halving the UK's material footprint, which would drive resource efficiency and sustainability. It also proposes banning single-use vapes to decrease

e-waste Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined for refurbi ...

and reduce unnecessary material consumption. Moreover, the report suggests achieving a 15% reduction in whole-system energy demand, which would alleviate pressure on the materials required for energy infrastructure. The report argued that to support long term recovery of the materials, the UK must invest in recycling infrastructure capable of efficiently processing products rich in critical materials, such as electronics and batteries.

China

On November 30, 2023, the Ministry of National Security of China defined critical minerals as "those irreplaceable metal elements and mineral deposits used in advanced industries, such as new materials, new energy, next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, edge-cutting equipment manufacturing, national defense, and military sectors."

Geopolitical risk

There is an increased focus on supply chains in general and for critical materials specifically, highlighted by US-China competition. China is the biggest producer of 30 of the US 50 critical minerals as well as being a significant player in downstream processing and manufacture. Following US restrictions on the Chinese semiconductor industry, China, on 3 December 2024, for the first time imposed export restrictions targeted at the United States only rather than all countries, covering antimony, gallium, and germanium. A 2024 analysis from the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

states that potential scarcity of critical materials arising from the

Energy transition An energy transition (or energy system transformation) is a major structural change to energy supply and consumption in an energy system. Currently, a transition to sustainable energy is underway to limit climate change. Most of the sustainab ...

will be driven by demand factors and suggests ways for governments to address the uncertainties involved.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *{{Cite book, title=Critical Materials and Sustainability Transition, editor =Dr. Arda Işıldar & Dr. Eric D. van Hullebusch, publisher=CRC Press/Balkema, date=2024, isbn=978-1-003-21892-0

External links

RMIS Raw Materials Information System Critical Raw Materials
Minerals