CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-03: Advanced recovery of critical raw materials from Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)

The MULTIMETAL project concept addresses the urgent need to significantly improve the recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), in line with the objectives of HORIZON-CL6-2026-01-CIRCBIO-03. Despite their strategic importance for the EU’s green and digital transitions, materials such as rare earth elements (Nd, Dy) from NdFeB magnets, tantalum from SMD capacitors, and gallium, indium and germanium from optoelectronic components are currently lost in conventional WEEE treatment processes.

MULTIMETAL proposes an integrated and scalable approach combining:

• Advanced robotic and AI-based sorting technologies to identify, separate and selectively extract CRM-rich components from complex WEEE streams (motors, PCBs, LEDs, displays and optical modules);

• Innovative chemical recycling and refining routes, tailored to each target material family, enabling high recovery yields and CRM purities suitable for industrial reuse;

• Process integration and optimisation to enable the simultaneous recovery of multiple CRMs, reducing costs, energy consumption and environmental impacts compared to primary extraction.

The project aims to validate these technologies at pilot scale, demonstrating technical feasibility, economic viability and environmental sustainability, while contributing to the creation of competitive European secondary CRM supply chains and reducing dependence on imported primary and secondary raw materials.

Partners are sought along the full value chain, including WEEE recyclers and waste management companies, technology providers in robotics, AI and sensor-based sorting, experts in chemical recycling and CRM refining, end-users of recycled critical raw materials, and partners specialised in sustainability assessment, standardisation and market uptake.