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16th of February 2026

Avoiding Raw Material Losses How Briquetting Strengthens Recovery and Security of Supply

Executive Summary

Raw materials have evolved in many industries from a pure procurement topic into a strategic bottleneck. The reasons are manifold: geopolitical dependencies, export policy interventions, highly volatile prices, and growing competition for materials driven by the energy transition, digitalization, and defense.

The EU is responding with the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), setting clear targets for increased recycling and reduced dependence on individual supplier countries.

For companies, this leads to a pragmatic question:
Where do avoidable raw material losses occur within our own production — and how can they be reduced economically?

This article demonstrates why briquetting addresses precisely this issue: It transforms production residues such as chips, dust, and sludge into manageable, recoverable material streams, improves recovery quality, and reduces media and material losses — without interfering with core production processes.

Why Raw Material Scarcity and Prices Are a Growing Concern

Global Demand Is Rising – Simultaneously

1.1 Global Demand Is Rising — Simultaneously

Whether energy transition, electromobility, grid expansion, robotics, or data centers: material demand is increasing across multiple future markets at the same time. This affects not only so-called critical raw materials such as rare earths, but also classic industrial metals like copper, aluminum, and nickel.

In addition, raw material markets are not only expensive — they are highly volatile. Price movements can intensify rapidly when supply shocks, political decisions, or speculation coincide. A striking example is the nickel market in 2022: According to the independent report on the London Metal Exchange, the nickel price increased by more than 270% within just a few days.

The issue remains highly relevant today. At the end of January 2026, Reuters reported a surge in copper prices to record highs, accompanied by significant daily fluctuations.

[Translate to EN:] Line graph showing copper, tin, and nickel prices in $/mt from 2020 to 2025. Tin peaks sharply in mid-2022, copper rises and dips, and nickel remains relatively steady at a lower price.
[Translate to EN:] Line graph showing aluminium prices in $/mt from 2020 to 2025. Prices rise steadily, peak sharply in early 2022, then fall and fluctuate before gradually rising again towards mid-2025.
[Translate to EN:] Line graph showing iron ore prices in dollars per metric ton from January 2020 to December 2025. Prices rise sharply in 2021, peak, then decline and fluctuate between $50 and $150 until 2025.
[Translate to EN:] Line graph showing zinc prices in $/mt from 2020 to 2025, with prices rising sharply to a peak in early 2022, then falling and fluctuating before stabilizing near 3000 $/mt in late 2025.

Geopolitics: Dependencies Are a Strategic Risk

Many raw materials originate from only a few countries or are processed there. The EU describes these dependencies very concretely: for certain critical raw materials, Europe is almost entirely dependent on a single country. The Council of the EU cites, among others, a 100% dependency on China for heavy rare earths, as well as very high dependencies for additional materials.

The European Commission further emphasizes the vulnerability of global supply chains and highlights how the combination of rising demand and structural dependencies increases risk exposure.

Political Response: The Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA)

The CRMA sets clear benchmarks for 2030:

  • At least 10% of annual EU demand from EU extraction
  • At least 40% processing within the EU
  • At least 25% recycling within the EU
  • Maximum 65% dependency on a single third country

The central message for companies is clear: Recycling and recovery are being strategically elevated — now. Reuters also highlights recycling as a key lever for reducing dependency, explicitly referencing the 25% recycling target.

Reassessing Production Residues: Where “Hidden Material” Lies

In many operations, material streams arise daily that are traditionally viewed as waste or by-products — although they contain significant raw material value: chips, sludge, dust, offcuts, and residues.

Losses typically do not result from inefficient management, but from the operational challenges of handling loose residual materials:

  • Large surface area and oxidation (especially metal chips)
  • Mixing of different materials or media
  • Adhering coolants and lubricants (oil, emulsions)
  • Losses during handling, transport, and interim storage

The result: part of the material and media value is lost or can only be recovered with deductions.

Briquetting as an Economic Lever: Turning Residues into Raw Material Sources Higher Material Quality and Improved Recoverability

Briquetting compresses loose production residues into dimensionally stable briquettes. No material separation takes place; instead, existing material streams are compacted, dewatered, and structured to improve handling and recoverability.

User reports from RUF Maschinenbau demonstrate that briquetting significantly simplifies the handling of production residues: volume reduction increases efficiency in handling, storage, and transport, while also improving reintegration into downstream processes.

Particularly for metal chips, densification creates homogeneous, form-stable units that can be stored, transported, and processed more efficiently than loose chips.

[Translate to EN:] Coolant liquid pours collection into a container during the briquetting process

Coolant Recovery: Lower Consumption, Reduced Loss

For wet, oil- or emulsion-contaminated chips, briquetting creates a dual leverage effect: material and medium. The process acts as a mechanical treatment method in which adhering coolants are pressed out.

User reports from RUF Maschinenbau on grinding sludge and milling chips show that:

  • Coolants can be recovered
  • Production costs can be reduced
  • Disposal efforts can be minimized

Recovered media can be treated and reused, significantly reducing consumption of expensive metalworking fluids.

Improved Logistics, Fewer Losses — and Cleaner Processes

Briquettes require only a fraction of the volume of loose chips. At the same time, transport contamination is reduced because free liquid is removed during pressing.

This results in:

  • Lower material losses
  • More stable material quality
  • Cleaner logistics and recovery processes

An effect that not only improves organization, but measurably contributes to securing raw material value.

What Decision-Makers Really Want to Know: “Does It Pay Off?”

What Decision-Makers Really Want to Know: “Does It Pay Off?”

For procurement management and executive leadership, the decisive factor is clear economic logic. Briquetting typically impacts three central value drivers:

  1. Securing material value
    Improved recoverability, fewer deductions, more stable revenues
  2. Recovering media
    Reduced coolant consumption through recovery instead of loss
  3. Lowering logistics and process costs
    Less handling, fewer transports, reduced space requirements

User reports from RUF Maschinenbau on aluminum chip briquetting indicate that systems can amortize within approximately two years through savings in storage, transport, and material use. When melting costs are taken into account, economic improvements of around €700 per ton are described.

The key takeaway is not the transferability of individual figures, but the principle: Recovery results from process quality and material quality – not from market prices alone.

Why RUF Maschinenbau Is the Right Solution Partner

In recovery projects, success depends less on “whether” and more on “how.” Material type, moisture level, media content, throughput, peripheral equipment, and integration must align.

RUF Maschinenbau therefore positions briquetting as an integrated industrial system: press, peripherals, and system integration are tailored to material and process requirements.

For companies, this means briquetting is not a major overhaul, but a controllable project integrated into existing material flows — with measurable effects on recovery, logistics, and economic performance.

Conclusion: Security of Supply Begins in the Plant

The CRMA makes it clear that Europe intends to significantly strengthen recycling and recovery. At the same time, raw material prices remain volatile and supply chains vulnerable.

For companies, this means:
Those who reduce material losses within their own production become more independent — financially and strategically.

Briquetting is an effective lever because it:

  • Transforms production residues into predictable raw material streams
  • Enables coolant recovery
  • Reduces logistics and process losses
  • Can generally be implemented without interfering with core production

Selected Sources

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