klo 10:00 – 10:10

The Center of Expertise for Circular Economy (CECE) has been established to act as a link between cutting-edge research and industrial needs. A key role in our activities is to develop sustainable and cost-effective solutions to secure the availability of raw materials for European industry.

The security of supply of raw materials classified as critical by the European Commission has become even more important due to recent world events. Our research is focusing on recovery technologies for battery metals, rare earths and precious metals. All of them are enabling the transition of modern society from a fossil-based to a raw material-based economy.

Ari Väisänen (Professor of Analytical Chemistry and Circular Economy at the University of Jyväskylä) is an expert on fields of analytical and solution chemistry. He is a chairman of the Center of Expertise for Circular Economy (CECE), which is a platform for research organizations and industrial partners. His research has been focused on circular economy and especially method development for the recovery of critical raw materials from waste streams. He has played a key role in the development of new water purification technologies and especially 3D printed scavenger technology. He is a member of NATO’s Science & Technology Organization. Väisänen has also been an expert in European Commission`s CRMs assessment.

klo 10:10 – 10:40

Secondary material flows from mining, metal refining, and end-of-life battery processes offer significant opportunities to improve resource efficiency and sustainability within the battery value chain. Integrating these side streams and recycled materials into battery material production reduces dependence on virgin resources, lowers environmental impacts, and supports a circular economy. This approach strengthens the security of critical raw material supply while creating new value from industrial by-products and waste streams. This talk reviews the recent national innovations done in the field.

Ulla Lassi is a professor and the head of Research unit of Sustainable chemistry, at the University of Oulu. Her research areas involve inorganic material chemistry in industrial applications, especially battery chemicals, and related circular economy. She has over 300 peerly reviewed scientific publications, seven patents and several invention disclosures. As a professor, she has supervised 37 PhD theses and more than 150 M.Sc theses. Lassi has been the principal investigator of over 40 research projects, including projects funded by Horizon Europe, Research Council of Finland, and Business Finland. Professor Lassi is also an active member in several scientific societies and committees. She has several positions of trust, e.g. in international battery associations and evaluation committees. Lassi was one of the writers of Finnish National Battery Strategy 2025. She has also been awarded Tandem Industry Academy Professor in the field of battery chemistry for 2023-2025.

klo 10:40 – 11:00

As demand for raw materials continues to grow, scaling-up extraction alone is not enough. We must deliver greater value from every tonne mined. This session explores how circular economy approach, advanced mineral processing design, and piloting solutions can turn tailings, mining waste, and side streams into value-added products. It also addresses the role of optimised tailings management in minimising environmental impact.

Dr.-Ing Quentin Dehaine is a Research Professor at the Geological Survey of Finland GTK, where he leads national and European research and innovation projects at the intersection of process mineralogy, mineral processing, geometallurgy and traceability. His work focuses on critical raw materials, including cobalt, lithium, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements, with a strong emphasis on developing integrated approaches to support mine value chain optimisation, responsible sourcing, and resource efficiency.

Quentin holds a PhD in Mining and Mineral Engineering from the Université de Lorraine (France) and an engineer degree from the École Nationale Supérieure de Géologie (ENSG Nancy). Additionally, he is an Editor of the Separation and Purification Technology journal, and serves as Officer for Scandinavia within the IUGS Initiative on Forensic Geology.

klo 11:20 – 11:40

Speaker will introduce the organizational profile related to circular economy research at HIF, HZDR, Germany. This talk will give an overview of hydrometallurgical process developments for Vanadium and Lithium recovery from secondary resources such as industrial slags and battery wastes, respectively. It will elaborate the complexity in polymetallic secondary feeds handling and step-by-step approaches based on the hydrometallurgy to have access to high purity energy materials like V and Li. The speaker will also show the examples of metallurgical process developments from lab to pilot scale.

Adj. Prof. Dr. Ajay B. Patil holds a PhD in Analytical and Radiochemistry. After PhD, he had multiple research stays at the University of Bologna (Italy), Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology at Lausanne (EPFL), (Switzerland).

He holds now international joint adjunct professorship, being head of the department of Process Metallurgy at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) in Freiberg (Germany) and Senior Lecturer in Circular economy and Analytical chemistry at University of Jyväskylä (JYU) (Finland).

Dr. Patil is the co-founder and former CEO of REMRETEch GmbH (Switzerland), a company focused on rare earth and technology metal recovery. He is an active member of European expert groups on critical raw materials, CRM act and proposed circular economy act implementation aspects.

In his research, Dr. Patil focuses on circular economy of critical metals including rare earths, energy, technology and battery materials: process design, development, piloting and implementation, with nearly 1100m2 of piloting space developed in Freiberg, Germany and Bench scale piloting lab at JYU, Finland. Other aspects of his work are process and economic feasibility, comprehensive and alternative value chains based on hydro and pyrometallurgy and membranes-based strategies. He is further interested in safe and sustainable management of e-waste, metallic resources/low grade ores, industrial byproduct slags, mining tailings and advanced materials, with a long-term vision of establishing a globally recognized competence center in process metallurgy and the circular economy of mineral and metalliferous resources.

klo 13:00 – 13:30

This presentation explores the strategic importance of rare earth elements and permanent magnets in an era defined by geopolitical competition, accelerating clean‑tech deployment, and tightening supply constraints. It examines global dynamics in primary production, the emerging potential of recycling and material substitution, and the European Union’s expanding policy actions to strengthen resilience across critical mineral value chains. The session highlights Finland’s unique opportunities to support European production—from upstream mining and processing to advanced magnet materials—and outlines pathways to ensure long‑term security of supply for the raw materials essential to Europe’s green and digital transitions.

Dr. Vesa is the CEO of Not Innovated Here – Laboratory of Creative Destruction, a consultancy focused on critical raw materials, industrial strategy, and technological transitions. He has worked in the fields of critical minerals and battery industries for more than 15 years.

Over the past five years, Dr. Vesa served at Finland’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, where he acted as Chief Specialist for minerals policy, and as the lead editor of the National Battery Strategy published in January 2021. He has also contributed to the development of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) and Finland’s National Mineral Strategy released in December 2024. He is currently managing the update of Finland’s battery strategy on behalf of the Finnish Battery Industries. Dr. Vesa is the author of several studies on the security of supply of critical raw materials, including preparatory analyses for the National Emergency Supply Agency (NESA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA). He holds a doctoral degree in Information Systems Science and has more than a decade of experience in hardware, software, and semiconductor industries, having worked for companies such as IBM, Nokia, and AMD.

klo 13:30 – 13:50

Rare earth elements are essential for high-performance permanent magnets used in electrification, wind energy, industrial technologies and defence, yet their production and processing remain highly concentrated. This presentation introduces the fundamentals of the rare earth market, examines Europe’s developing industrial landscape, and discusses Sokli’s potential role as a future source of rare earth raw materials within a more resilient European value chain.

Jani Adolfsson-Tallqvist is Business Development Manager at Sokli Oy, focusing on Sokli’s business development, partnerships and More than a Mine Veturi ecosystem. His role connects market needs, industrial partners, public funding and R&D themes to turn Sokli’s unique mineral potential into wider value-chain opportunities beyond mining. He supports collaboration around phosphate, rare earth elements, niobium and side streams, strengthening Finland’s and Europe’s critical raw materials resilience.

Jani has a background in strategy, innovation, EU affairs, market intelligence and open innovation ecosystems, with earlier consulting experience across battery, mining, energy and circular economy sectors. He holds an M.Sc. in Materials Engineering from Aalto University.

klo 13:50 – 14:10

Sami Virolainen is the Head of the Department of Separation Science at LUT University and a researcher-teacher specializing in hydrometallurgy; he has spent 20 years working on separation technologies and circular economy issues.

Virolainen also leads the multidisciplinary SCI-MAT research platform, which brings together experts from engineering, sustainability sciences, and business studies to advance the circular economy of metals.

klo 14:10 – 14:30

The Richest reserve is Already Above Ground and growing every day. Amount of electronic waste is projected to double by 2030 while collection , recycling and especially CRM recovery is lagging. Recovering Critical Raw Materials (CRM) from Electronic Waste possess great potential to EU’ minerals targets, reducing scarcity and import dependence. Currently utilizing this circular stream faces systemic, economic and technical challenges. Kuusakoski is leading way and taking concrete steps to solve the equation. Investing in Lahti Infinity center – our Vision on how integrated re-use, recycling and critical raw materials recovery look at industrial scale.

Tuomas Haikka currently works as Chief Sustainability Officer at Kuusakoski, where responsibilities also include leading Research and Innovation. Tuomas has extensive 20yrs. international experience among Sustainability and metals industry topics, prior joining Kuusakoski he worked 15 yrs. in various leadership positions regarding Sustainability, Strategy and Supply Chain management at Stainless steel company Outokumpu. In addition Tuomas is serving at Boards of Finish Recycling Industries association, Chemical industries of Finland and Recycling Europe where Circular economy is on agenda every time.