Added: Oct 01, 2020
Last edited: Aug 10, 2021
Although the potential for urban mining and the use of various metal-heavy waste streams to retrieve raw materials is high, it is underused. One of the main reasons for that is the availability of data, which is often scattered across multiple databases and stored in various formats which may not always be compatible. The EU-led ProSUM project brought together researchers and stakeholders across the EU, Norway, and Switzerland in an information network to exchange knowledge. Its main product is a platform launched in January 2018, which collects and displays available data on three waste streams.
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), end of live vehicles (ELVs), and batteries, contain large amounts of raw materials, and are available in Europe in large amounts. The recycling of metals from these products is obstructed by the fact that information on urban mining potentials are collected in scattered databases and reports that are hard to retrieve and not stored in a common format, making it hard to combine that knowledge.
In order to make urban mining knowledge more accessible and incentivise the recycling of raw metals from WEEE, ELVs, and batteries, the ProSUM project strives to combine the existing knowledge. In cooperation with numerous EU and Swiss institutions, the project created a central database hosting the available knowledge on urban mining and simplifying the process for users. Additionally, the project's collaborative nature led to a knowledge network that makes it easier to share best practices on urban mining.
