SIM² KU Leuven member Prof. Erik Smolders contributed to a milestone paper in The Lancet Planetary Health. A team of Belgian and Congolese researchers studied the effects of mining-related pollution on newborns in Katanga, DRC.

SIM² KU Leuven - SOLVOMET researchers have developed a novel solvent extraction system to remove magnesium from lithium-rich solutions, allowing a major reduction of the eco-footprint of lithium recovery from brines.

Piet Wostyn works as a hybrid project manager & researcher for the SOLVOMET Group (SIM² KU Leuven). His work comprises both EU project management and research on the Social License to Operate of mining & recycling processes.

A BBC Future article featuring Ana Maria Martinez (SINTEF) illustrates that old electronics are domestic mines of precious metals. Martina Orefice (SIM² KU Leuven) provides further background referring to several EU projects.

“The Missing Link of the Circular Economy 2.0” video shows why the waste of the past cannot be consigned to oblivion. A comprehensive Circular Economy vision should, therefore, find answers for Europe’s 500,000+ landfills.

How feasible is the transition to a climate-neutral economy (European Green Deal) in terms of the availability of the required (critical) metals? During the March 12 Seminar in Brussels an expert panel tried to provide answers.

How sustainable is artisanal cobalt mining in DR Congo? That’s the research question which was addressed in a Nature Sustainability paper by a group of researchers of the University of Lubumbashi in collaboration with a team from KU Leuven.

Register now for a seminar on "Green transition challenged by the metal supply chain". The event takes place on March 12, 2020 in the Flemish Parliament in Brussels (Belgium). Various EU H2020 projects will cluster around the challenges they face.

"Inconvenient truths of the circular economy" is the title of an interview with prof. Markus Reuter for the Aurubis magazine in which the main challenges and opportunities of recycling and the circular economy are analyzed.

Public acceptance or the ‘Social License to Operate’ is widely acknowledged as the biggest financial risk for the mining sector. Six different perspectives and recommendations coming from six different sectors were debated during a satellite event of the EU Raw Materials Week (22 Nov. 2019).