Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has secured Strategic Project status under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) for its planned 3ECYCLE secondary raw materials smelting facility in the Netherlands, which is designed to recover copper and other valuable metals from electronic scrap.
The Japanese company said the project was selected on October 9, placing it within the EU framework supporting projects that strengthen the security of raw-material supplies.
The facility is intended to process electronic waste and return recovered metals to European industrial supply chains. Its designation is expected to facilitate development and provide additional institutional support as the company evaluates commercialisation.
Copper Recycling and European Supply Security
The project supports EU efforts to reduce reliance on imported primary raw materials by expanding domestic recycling and metal-processing capacity.
Copper is used extensively in electricity networks, renewable energy infrastructure, electric vehicles, electronics, industrial equipment and data infrastructure. Recovering the metal from electronic waste offers an additional source of supply alongside conventional mining and refining.
Mitsubishi Materials plans to apply its existing non-ferrous metals smelting and recycling expertise to European waste streams, recovering copper and other valuable metals for industrial reuse.
Company Expands Resource Circulation Strategy
The CRMA designation reflects the growing role of secondary raw materials, e-scrap processing and metal recovery in European critical-materials policy. Strategic status takes into account factors including supply-security benefits, technical feasibility, sustainability and cross-border impact.
The project also aligns with Mitsubishi Materials’ wider resource-circulation strategy and its medium-term management programme covering the fiscal years ending March 2027–2029, which identifies sustainable resource use and increased recycling of secondary materials as priorities. The company said it would continue assessing the commercialisation of 3ECYCLE using technologies developed through its non-ferrous metals operations.
