Critical materials, as identified by the UK government, include lithium (used in batteries) and magnesium (used for producing steel alloys). The UK remains economically and physically dependent on many materials that are mined around the world. Other critical materials include elements such as indium, cobalt, and niobium, as well as rare earth elements such as neodymium and praseodymium. These tend to be found in very low concentrations and mining them often involves extracting vast quantities of rock or water.
Dr Colin Church FIMMM, CEO of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), and Rachel Stonehouse MIMMM, Head of Policy at IOM3, are part of the National Engineering Policy Centre’s Working Group on Materials and Net Zero, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Together, they contributed to a report urging the UK government to develop an integrated materials strategy to support the existing Net Zero Strategy and improve economic security.
With the demand for critical materials rising rapidly, concerns about resource scarcity across energy, transport and digital systems are growing. This report presents proactive policies and engineering innovations designed to reduce the UK’s dependency on critical materials and mitigate risk exposure.
The proposed demand side measures include:
• Infrastructure and technology planning: considering material requirements during upstream planning
• Design and design skills: minimise or eliminate the need for critical materials through design changes and ensure the skills and cultures to enable this
• Circular economy: recovering, reusing and recycling materials where they are used
A new policy approach to materials is required, with the report setting out a series of recommendations calling on UK government to:
• Implement a cross-sector UK materials strategy
• Establish materials flows and forecasts through a centralised National Materials Data Hub
• Halve the UK’s overall material footprint
• Deliver transformation of UK skills, education and training to embed sustainable practices and emphasise resource efficiency
• Include critical material demand reduction in transport and digital infrastructure planning and energy policy
• Expand ecodesign regulations to include material efficiency and design for durability and disassembly
• Invest in recycling capacity to provide domestic sources of critical materials
• Support and accelerate innovation that reduces critical material use
IOM3 CEO Dr Colin Church says:
“In our report, we call for an overall materials strategy; and one of the sets of tools that we’ve identified as being key to managing materials more sustainably, is design that properly considers materials use. We need to design infrastructure and products to contain less material – and in particular, less of those critical materials – so that we need less new material to get the same level of service. We also must make sure we have the right skills – for engineers, for designers – to ensure that people can indeed design future infrastructure and future products with materials efficiency and materials circularity firmly in mind.”
For press and media inquiries please contact Kovida Mehra at kovida.mehra@iom3.org.
About IOM3
The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) is a professional engineering, environmental, and scientific institution. Governed by a Royal Charter and registered as a charity, IOM3 supports professionals across materials, minerals, mining, and associated technical disciplines, promoting the transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient, and resilient society.
IOM3 members hold a unique wealth of knowledge and expertise, contributing valuable insight to policy debates. Through their diversity of perspectives, IOM3 offers impartial and trusted advice across a range of critical agendas, ensuring that policy decisions are informed by expertise.
By providing modern, flexible services, high-quality technical content, and value for money, IOM3 aims to be the leading professional membership body in its field.
