With European demand for critical raw materials growing alongside geopolitical tensions and supply risks, a major analysis offers vital new data on the rapidly expanding size and value of Europe’s “urban mine” of electronic waste. Europe’s discarded electronics now contain about 1 million tonnes of critical raw materials every year -- metals vital for renewable energy, digital networks, and defense. The EU-backed analysis shows only half of Europe’s e-waste is properly recycled, underlining huge potential to recover copper, aluminium, and rare elements. By implementing circular design, collection, and recycling, CRM recovery in the EU27+4 could reach 1.5 million tonnes annually by 2050. The report coincides with International e-Waste Day, Monday 14 Oct.

In the global race to decarbonize, hydrogen stands out as one of the most promising clean fuels. But despite its potential to power industries and transportation without emitting carbon, producing hydrogen sustainably in a water electrolyzer has been limited by the high cost and scarcity of one critical ingredient: iridium. Now, a team of researchers at Rice University has developed a new catalyst that dramatically reduces the amount of iridium needed in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers, a key technology for generating green hydrogen from water. Their innovation — an iridium-stabilized ruthenium oxide catalyst that uses just one-sixth as much iridium as conventional systems — maintains industrial-level performance for more than 1,500 hours of continuous operation. The research was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Dr. Andrea Toulouse from the Institute of Applied Optics receives €1.8 million in funding from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung as part of the CZS Nexus program to establish a new junior research group. She conducts research in the field of micro-optics and fiber-based 3D printing. Her vision is to develop 3D printers that will one day be able to build biological tissue directly inside the body.

In a world’s first, researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland have developed a battery that could reshape the future of electric vehicles and portable electronics.