The UK and Europe are at a strategic turning point. The more we continue to rely on external suppliers who can weaponise supply or inflate prices, the more fragile our industries will become. This is brought into sharp focus by a recent report by the EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) which highlights China’s increasing control and influence over supply chains, export restrictions and price-wars.

The thinktank points to the many critical metals such as rare earths, permanent magnets, gallium and graphite which are heavily supplied or refined in China; how it is using export licence restrictions and pricing policies as tools of geopolitical power. China’s strategy is not just trade but is tying up the underpinnings of industrial competitiveness: the materials, the refining, the supply certainty.

For the UK and Europe all of this means instability – not just price volatility but also risk of disruption. Clearly, our dependence on external sources of critical raw materials exposes us to economic and strategic risk.

Biometallurgy, especially methods that can recover critical metals from waste streams or industrial byproducts, provides a way to lessen that dependency. It is also an opportunity to lessen the need to open mines in the UK. Furthermore, conventional refining of many critical metals is energy-intensive, often reliant on fossil fuels, high temperatures and chemical reagents. These processes have large carbon emissions, high pollution and substantial power consumption.

In contrast, bacterial extraction (bioleaching, biorecovery etc.) uses ambient or mild conditions, fewer toxic chemicals and can often run off lower-grade waste material. This translates into potentially major reductions in power use, emissions, and environmental footprint.

Economic and Strategic Opportunity

However, we need to partner commercial innovation with policy to build resilience. We cannot merely react to external supply chokes; we must invest in our own refining and recycling capabilities. For independent operators, this is also an opportunity to develop and scale businesses that can reliably supply critical raw materials in cleaner, more sustainable ways. If supported properly, bio-based refining can become part of the “deep infrastructure” the UK, and Europe, really needs to protect its industrial base – clean energy, circular material flows and indigenous supply resilience.

By aligning policy, funding, and industrial strategy around sustainable refining methods – there’s a real chance for the UK and Europe to transform a weak point - critical raw material dependency - into a competitive advantage. However, to realise such a major economic and strategic opportunity the government, industry and regulators must work hand in hand.

As a matter of urgency, the following needs to happen:

• Policy and Regulatory Support
  Create incentives (tax breaks, RandD grants, procurement support) for bio-refining methods. Lower barriers to permitting, support for pilot plants, and standards that recognise sustainability in refining.
• Funding and Investment
  Direct funding toward early-stage bio-refining firms for providing the capital they need for scaling, infrastructure (labs, reactor systems), and skilled people. The UK should also use its public procurement power to guarantee markets for sustainably refined materials.
• Circular Systems and Waste-to-Resource
  Prioritise regulation and systems that make use of waste streams – electronic waste, mine tailings, industrial residues – as feedstock for bio-based refining. This addresses both waste minimisation and critical raw material supply.
• Transparency and Standards
  Develop robust sustainability metrics for refining: carbon emissions, power use per unit output, pollution (chemical leaching, water use), lifecycle assessment. Bio-refining business customers should be able to differentiate themselves in markets, but that requires standards and transparent reporting.
• Strategic Alliances and Collaboration
  Independent bio-metallurgy enterprises should be part of multi-stakeholder consortia (universities, governments, large manufacturers) to scale production, share knowledge and de-risk investment. National and EU level industrial strategy must include bio-metallurgy as a core element in securing critical raw materials.

In summary, if we act now, bio-based metal refining need no longer remain as simply a technical curiosity – it can offer a long-term solution toward addressing and reducing our dependency on others for critical raw materials, while enabling cleaner, more resilient supply chains that reduce emissions, lower power consumption and mitigate environmental harm.

Andrew Gomarsall MBE is Executive Director at N2S, Co-Founder Bioscope Technologies