Standards Development

Scope

This document provides information on sustainability certification schemes under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). It also provides information on economic, social, and environmental indicators, intended to inform organizations in evaluating and improving their sustainability performance, in line with European policies and regulations.

This document is applicable to the activities of quarrying, mining, mineral concentration or transformation and extractive metallurgical industries.

The following activities are outside the scope of this document:

• liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons;

• the investigation or exploitation of underground structures for use as geological storage of carbon dioxide; and

• non-extractive metallurgy

Purpose

This proposal directly supports the second policy priority outlined in the 2024 Annual Union Work Programme for European Standardisation: “Exploration, extraction, refining and recycling of critical raw materials (Action 2)”, under the broader category of “Resilience of European industry.”

The proposal aims to contribute to the implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), a key component of the European Green Deal, proposed in March 2023, entering into force in 2024. It aims to strengthen the EU’s strategic autonomy by enhancing the sustainability and resilience of the raw materials sector, particularly through increased domestic sourcing and circular economy practices.

Furthermore, the project supports Member States in aligning national mineral raw materials policies with EU objectives. It promotes a sustainable raw materials industry, raising public awareness of its socio-economic and environmental importance. The initiative aims to be fully aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the EU Principles for Sustainable Raw Materials. The scope includes both critical and strategic raw materials, with a focus on increasing supply security from European sources. The proposal is inclusive of all mineral and metal raw materials companies, including SMEs, which represent over 98% of the European sector.

The project will be developed in CEN/TC 477 “Sustainable production of mineral and metal raw materials from mining and recycling”. CEN/TC 477 includes broad stakeholder representation, encompassing public authorities, industry experts, academia, regulators, accessibility consultants, and representatives of persons with disabilities. The European Commission participates as a Counsellor, ensuring alignment with EU policy objectives and supporting standardization activities under SMP-STAND-2024- ESOS-01-IBA.

Expected outcome

The initial output will be a CEN Technical Report (CEN/TR), intended as an informational guide for industry stakeholders to comply with the CRMA.

IMPORTANT NOTICE This document is informative in nature and does not contain normative requirements or recommendations. It does not have the status of a standard and is not intended to be used for certification purposes. Instead, it serves as a reference to support the European raw materials sector in aligning with EU sustainability objectives, consolidating and summarizing key information on sustainability certification schemes under the CRMA.