On Friday 14 June 2019, Prospex Institute organised the first Policy Council of the Horizon 2020 SecREEts project in Brussels. This high-level meeting gathered experts and stakeholders from the European Rare Earth market to discuss challenges and trends related to critical supply of Rare Earth Elements in Europe. After and introduction to the industrial applications for Rare Earth and the EU’s perspective on the matter, SecREEts partners were invited to present their role in the project and answer questions from the audience.
In the afternoon, group discussions were organised by Prospex Institute and Quantis with experts in the fields of Life-Cycle Assessment/Costings and Social Licence to Operate in Rare Earth Elements manufacturing and extraction. This peer-learning exercise has led to some intense and fruitful discussions highlighting the importance of cooperation between social acceptance professionals and environmental impact experts to ensure transparency and trust with local communities and society.
A public report of the discussions is available on the official H2020 SecREEts website: www.secreets.eu.