Industry and Society’s needs for sustainable management of raw materials in Europe: Exploring solutions for future action
The opening conference of the COBALT project was held on 28-29 November 2013 in Brussels (Belgium) and brought together EU and national representatives from industry, civil society, public authorities, research and geological surveys to explore and discuss opportunities and strengths related to sustainable raw materials supply and use in Europe. The FP7 project COBALT is funded by the European Commission and will be running from 2013 to 2015.
The conference focused at potential solutions along the value chain from extraction to consumption and recycling at end of product life. It also identified how industry, and in particular the manufacturing sector, can be best supported to meet the challenge of changing global material demands in ways which also deliver on social and environmental needs in relation to raw material use.