Sustainable supply of Critical Raw Materials. Advancing legal frameworks enabling responsible extraction, recycling, and trade (CRM-ALERT)

The project will: (a) provide an in-depth examination of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and its integration with Swedish permitting processes and international governance models, including: 1. an investigation on how recycling and reuse are incorporated into legal strategies for long-term resource security; and 2. an assessment of the effectiveness of legal instruments in promoting circular economy principles within the CRM sector; (b) clarify how legal frameworks at multiple levels (EU, national, international) shape the sustainable supply of CRM; and (c) deliver a comparative analysis of legal frameworks in Australia, Canada, Chile, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project will also form part of an interdisciplinary consortium investigating the intersection between geology, ore beneficiation, institutional conditions and governance.

Supervisor: Maria Pettersson, Professor and Head of Subject Law, ETKS

Subject description

The research in law have different legal bases for environmental and natural resources.

Collaborations are also available with multiple networks and universities within and outside Sweden. Both the graduate program and the right science education is visited regularly by professors and other senior specialists, mainly from Sweden, but also from other countries. Furthermore, opportunities to study parts of education abroad is good and some of our former students have good experience with such international studies.

Co-supervisors: Gregory Poelzer, Associate Senior Lecturer, Political Science, ETKS, and Jan Rosenkranz, Professor and Head of Subject, Mineral Processing, SBN

Project description

The project will generate new knowledge about the role of laws and legal rules in the sustainable management of CRM. It will explore how regulatory frameworks at EU, national, and international levels condition the development of strategic mining projects, and how they balance the urgent need for minerals with environmental protection, social legitimacy, and economic viability. To ground the analysis, the project will use CRMA strategic projects in Norrbotten as case studies, primarily: Talga’s Nunasvaara project and LKAB’s Per Geijer deposit in Kiruna, including the Industrial Park in Luleå, providing concrete examples of how legal frameworks operate in practice and influence the sustainable supply of CRM. In addition to primary extraction, the project will explore the role of recycling and secondary raw materials in securing a reliable and sustainable supply of CRM. Central to this is an analysis of the legal frameworks that govern both extraction and recycling, assessing how it supports or hinders the development of circular value chains. The study will examine how recycling can reduce environmental impacts, alleviate pressure on ecosystems, and enhance resource efficiency, while also addressing the broader conditions for managing goal conflicts and fostering synergies in the transition toward a fossil-free society. Particular attention will be given to how institutional arrangements can promote alignment between fast permitting and environmental safeguards, industrial development and local community rights, and between primary extraction and circular resource flows within the context of climate transition and sustainable development goals.