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A University of Sheffield professor has contributed to a new report calling for a national materials strategy that addresses the rising demand for critical materials.

Published by the National Engineering Policy Centre, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the report is urging the UK government to develop an integrated materials strategy to reduce demand, reuse and recycle critical materials to support the UK's existing Net Zero Strategy and improve economic security.

Professor Joan Cordiner, Professor of Process Engineering at the University of Sheffield, is Chair of the National Engineering Policy Centre Working Group on Materials and Net Zero. On publishing the report, she said, "The way we extract and consume materials is unsustainable and we must address it urgently. Our report highlights the rising demand for critical materials, driven in part by their use in batteries, power systems and electronics. We are not the only country that will be competing for these finite minerals and we are calling on the new Government to develop a materials strategy that addresses demand and reuse of critical materials.

"For example, if we reduced the size of the UK's larger electric vehicle batteries by 30% we could cut our lithium demand by 17% and save 75 million tonnes of rock mined for lithium by 2040—that's the equivalent of 19 Wembley Stadiums full of rock."

Critical materials—as identified by the UK government—include lithium, used in batteries; and magnesium, used for producing steel alloys. The UK is economically and physically dependent on many materials that are mined around the world. Critical materials also include elements such as indium, cobalt, and niobium, and rare earth elements such as neodymium and praseodymium. These tend to be found in very low concentrations and mining them often involves extracting vast quantities of rock or water.

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