On the 19th of May 2026, the Resilex project organized a panel discussion in Brussels to discuss a series of topics relevant to the future of Europe. Key stakeholders were invited to engage in an active discussion on the sustainable exploitation and supply of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) for the PV and battery industries and the takeaways from the Resilex project’s results. This document summarizes the discussion focussed on Critical Raw Materials.
Laura Quijano (coordinator of the Resilex project) opened the event by stressing that Europe’s targets for climate neutrality, digitalization, and industrial resilience rely fundamentally on a secure, sustainable, and circular supply of critical raw materials. She emphasized that materials used in solar and battery technologies are now geopolitical pillars of strategic autonomy rather than just basic industrial inputs. Posing the question of how the EU can achieve energy transition without secure resource access, she introduced the RESILEX project as a direct solution. She explained that the project demonstrates how eco-design and the extraction of valuable materials from industrial and mining waste can successfully reduce Europe’s dependence on volatile foreign supply chains.
The event was structured in three different panels, that provided valuable insights of the different challeges faced by the stakeholders and put forward a series of recommendations destined to the policymakers. Christina Maria Huber from Solar Power Europe moderated the session on PV, while Giulio Poggiaroni from ETA Florence handled the sessions on Critical Raw Materials and Batteries. You can read the outcomes and takeaways in three distinct documents:
- New sourcing of critical raw materials
- Eco-design and recycling of PV panels
- New material streams for batteries
