The SERVET project (Research on New Circular Economy Processes in the Service of Strategic Sovereignty) is framed within Mission 5: Strategic sovereignty in mineral raw materials essential for industry and the energy transition, under the Missions Science and Innovation Programme 2025.
The initiative aims to develop advanced technological solutions for the efficient and sustainable recovery of critical raw materials (CRMs) from complex postconsumer waste streams (WEEE, photovoltaic panels, car fluff, steelmaking slags, etc.), through the combination of intelligent pretreatment technologies, hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical extraction, and the reintroduction of recovered materials into new value chains.
The overall objective is to reduce dependency on imports, promote circularity, and strengthen Spanish industrial autonomy within the context of the energy transition.
The SERVET project contributes to addressing one of the most relevant strategic challenges for the European Union, and particularly for Spain: ensuring secure and sustainable access to key and strategic raw materials (CRMs) through the valorization of postconsumer waste and complex industrial streams that currently lack efficient recovery pathways.
To this end, SERVET proposes the design of a new circular, efficient, sustainable, and technologically advanced value chain, based on the selective recovery of strategic materialscontained in waste streams such as photovoltaic and hybrid panels, printed circuit boards (PCBs), endoflife vehicle (ELV) fluff, steelmaking slags, and other complex solid industrial wastes.
The project places special emphasis on the recovery of copper (Cu), silicon (Si), tantalum (Ta), and niobium (Nb)—elements that are essential for the energy transition, digitalization, automotive sector, and electronics industry.
In addition, SERVET will investigate the recovery of silver (Ag) and tin (Sn), highvalue industrial metals, to maximize the economic viability and overall efficiency of the process and contribute to strategic sovereignty, in line with Mission 5 of the Missions Programme.
To achieve its objectives, SERVET will integrate disruptive technologies within a systemic and interdisciplinary approach, combining a wide range of activities, including:
These technologies will enable the reintroduction of recovered materials into highvalue applications, such as hybrid photovoltaic panels or functional conductive inks, thereby closing the loop of a fully circular value chain.
