UMP | The Knowledge Base of Europe’s Urban Mine
The Urban Mine Platform, developed by the FutuRaM project and building on the results of the ProSUM project, provides comprehensive data on the availability and recoverability of secondary and critical raw materials across seven waste streams in Europe, with projections up to 2050 under different scenarios.
Why It Matters?
Effective raw material management requires reliable, complete information and foresight on secondary raw material stocks and flows throughout their life cycles. Understanding the availability and recoverability of these materials - especially strategic and critical ones - is essential for informed decision-making.
Contribution to policy
Knowledge and data produced by FutuRaM project contributes to ensuring a secure supply of secondary and critical raw materials from within the European Union. The intelligence generated by FutuRaM has already supported evidence-based decision making for the sustainable exploitation of critical raw materials. For example, the implementation of Article 26 of the Critical Raw Materials Act requiring Member States to adopt national measures to improve the circularity and recovery of CRMs benefits from FutuRaM knowledge. The Joint Research Centre and the FutuRaM consortium have supported the JRC in developing a transparent methodology to exploit FutuRaM datasets and identify a relevant list of products, components and waste flows required by Article 26.7, notably based on the CRM content and other significant criteria, such as material losses, and strategic dimension which considers the co-existence of strategic raw materials within the waste flows. This methodology provides the technical support for the implementation of the Article 26 of the CRM Act. The report jointly developed by FutuRaM and JRC is available: click here.
What’s in it?
The Urban Mine Platform delivers this knowledge through clear, structured data on secondary raw materials found across the EU plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the UK, covering:
- Waste batteries
- Construction and demolition waste
- Wind turbines
- End-of-life vehicles
- Mining waste
- Slags and ashes
- Waste electrical and electronic equipment
How It Works?
The data has been compiled through extensive research into material composition, stocks and flows, and is presented across three future scenarios that influence waste arisings and characteristics up to 2050:
- Business-as-usual
- Recovery
- Circularity
By combining these elements, the platform provides insights into quantities put on the market, current stocks (where applicable), and arising as waste including raw material content and recoverability potential.
Users can explore the data through interactive tools, focusing on areas of interest, and download datasets for further analysis.