FREECOVER Holds M13 Project Meeting at UAB to Accelerate Sustainable Rare Earth Recycling Technologies
Barcelona, Spain – 23 January 2026
The FREECOVER project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges (Grant Agreement No. 101182579), successfully held its Month 13 (M13) consortium meeting at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
The meeting gathered researchers and innovation partners from Europe and associated countries to review progress in developing eco-friendly hydrometallurgical technologies for Rare Earth Element recycling.
Technical presentations covered:
- development of sustainable ionic liquids
- selective extraction methods
- natural adsorbents for water treatment
- integrated recovery systems
- sustainability assessment and life-cycle approaches
- dissemination and stakeholder engagement
The event reinforced international collaboration between universities, research institutes, and SMEs, in line with MSCA Staff Exchanges objectives of knowledge transfer and capacity building.
FREECOVER continues to contribute to Europe’s green transition by enabling cleaner technologies for critical raw materials recovery, reducing environmental impact and dependence on primary extraction.
About FREECOVER
FREECOVER develops sustainable hydrometallurgical processes for recycling rare earth elements using eco-friendly materials such as bio-derived ionic liquids and natural adsorbents.
EU Funding Acknowledgement
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Staff Exchanges grant agreement No. 101182579.
