On 20 November 2025, the ENICON project presented in Brussels its progress, during the annual workshop of the Cluster Hub production of raw materials for batteries from European resources. The event is organised during the European Raw Materials Week 2025.

The event was open by a speech from MEP Oliver Schenk, and focused on urgency, regulatory clarity and cross-border cooperation. He called for the swift implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Net Zero Industry Act, highlighting fast permitting and strong public-private investment as essential to Europe’s sovereignty. Schenk also urged closer collaboration across the entire value chain.

The key-note speaker was Professor Koen Binnemans, the architect of the 12 principles of hydrometallurgy, and the leading PI in the ENICON project. Professor Binnemans presented his latest research on the “Lindy Effect in Hydrometallurgy,” highlighting why scaling battery material innovations from lab to industry remains slow. Economic, regulatory and risk constraints lead industry to favour incremental improvements over disruptive new processes.

The ENICON project was presented during the Technical session “Mining and recovery” by its Scientific Coordinator Dr. Brecht Dewulf, who explained how ENICON supports the sustainable and responsible production of cobalt and nickel from European resources. The approach, centred on circular hydrometallurgy, aims to reduce chemical consumption and carbon footprint while optimising and integrating new technologies into existing industrial processes. By valorising mineral matrices and slags for use in construction materials, ENICON promotes near-zero waste metallurgy.

The impact is threefold: scientifically, it enables breakthrough research that advances eco-friendly battery metal production; economically and technologically, it supports the adoption of innovative valorisation and hydrochloric acid–based flowsheets; and societally, it contributes to lower direct CO₂ emissions.