Critical Raw Materials Act for Aluminum: New Opportunities for European Foundries
Critical raw materials are at the heart of European industrial policies. In Rome, at Palazzo Piacentini, Confindustria and the Ministries of Enterprise and Made in Italy and of the Environment and Energy Security illustrated to Italian companies the opportunities offered by the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), the EU regulation aimed at ensuring secure and sustainable supplies of strategic materials.
The context is one of growing global competition for resources: the European Union currently imports over 90% of certain raw materials critical for the green and digital transition and, in many cases, depends on a very limited number of supplier countries. For this reason, Brussels has identified over thirty critical raw materials, essential for their economic importance, including a shortlist of 17 "strategic" raw materials due to the high supply risk in strategic sectors such as defense and aerospace.
Aluminum as a strategic material for raw material security in the mechanical engineering industry
Aluminum is playing an increasingly central role in this context. While not an "emerging raw material" in the strict sense, the light metal is now recognized as a strategic material for European industry and falls within the scope of critical raw materials for the entire supply chain: from bauxite to alumina, from primary to secondary metal, up to semi-finished products, products, and end uses in every sector.
Aluminum is a key material for automotive and electric mobility, construction, packaging, power grids, aerospace, and mechanical engineering—sectors that represent a significant share of European industrial GDP. In critical conditions, the numbers clearly explain why: the European Union consumes approximately 15 million tons of aluminum annually, yet produces less than 10% of its primary metal needs domestically.
Reliance on foreign sources for the raw material is therefore structural and certainly a critical issue that must be addressed seriously. The lightweight metal and its alloys represent a cornerstone of industrial decarbonization: its use allows for reducing the weight of vehicles, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, and developing electrical and renewable infrastructure, particularly by relying on green raw metals now widely adopted by many of the world's leading manufacturers.
This centrality of aluminum underscores the importance of raw material security for the European mechanical engineering industry, a sector heavily dependent on the constant and competitive availability of the lightweight metal.
Recycled Aluminum: A European Competitive Advantage
A significantly positive aspect for Europe – and Italy in particular – is secondary aluminum. Producing secondary raw materials from scrap allows for energy savings of over 90% compared to primary sources and a drastic reduction in CO2 emissions. Today, over 40% of the aluminum consumed in Europe comes from recycling, with rates exceeding 70% in some sectors, such as packaging.
Italy is among the leading countries in recycling, thanks to a widespread supply chain of small and medium-sized enterprises active in the collection, sorting, smelting, and processing of the metal.
The CRMA Regulation's Opportunities for Foundries
It is precisely on this point that the Critical Raw Materials Act for aluminum opens a strategic window. The new European call, open until January 15, 2026, allows for the submission of "strategic projects" along the entire value chain: extraction, refining, processing, advanced recycling, and substitution of critical materials.
Projects recognized as priority will benefit from significant advantages:
- Accelerated authorization procedures;
- Greater coordination between Member States;
- Easier access to European funding.
"The current geopolitical context requires Europe to develop new extraction capacities, primary crude oil production, and recycling of various types of scrap, particularly for critical raw materials," emphasized Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso. "We are here to support companies in submitting significant projects in our country in this second call for proposals."
In the case of aluminum, looking at Europe and the structural problem of energy costs, this means, on the one hand, putting the issue of energy costs on the agenda—for a solution that unfortunately cannot be immediate—and then addressing the construction of new primary smelters with some chance of success.
In any case, to address the concrete issues that require immediate solutions, it is essential to focus on what is realistically feasible in the short term:
- Incentivize investments in high-efficiency recycling plants in every way and immediately;
- Incentivize the development of more advanced scrap sorting and remelting technologies, maximizing the use of renewable energy;
- Promote metallurgical research into innovative alloys.
The opportunities afforded by the CRMA regulation for foundries therefore translate into concrete opportunities for access to financing and simplified procedures for innovation and development projects in the recycling industry.
Critical raw materials, and aluminum in particular, are therefore not only a matter of security of supply, but could also constitute a decisive industrial lever for strengthening the competitiveness of the European and Italian production systems in the green and digital transition.
Source: A&L Aluminum Alloys Pressure Diecasting Foundry Techniques