Cross-cluster project SENSURE

Securing the availability of raw materials for SENSors in environmental technology through resilience with recycling and circular economy strategies

26.03.2026

The technological sovereignty of the European Union is closely linked to reliable access to critical raw materials. These resources form the essential basis for the development and production of key future technologies, including semiconductors, high-performance electronic components and modern sensor concepts. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act (EU CRMA) currently defines 34 raw materials as critical and classifies 17 of them as particularly strategic due to their geostrategic relevance.

A joint project for more resilience in environmental technology

The SENSURE cross-cluster project addresses a central field of research in material and sensor science development. The focus is on translating the requirements defined in the EU CRMA into methodological and technologically sound concepts for recycling, closed-loop use and material substitution in environmental sensor technology. By developing appropriate technological and organizational approaches, scientifically sound foundations are to be created in order to stabilize the availability of raw materials in relevant value chains in the long term and to increase the technological robustness of sensor-based systems.

To this end, the cross-cluster project pursues an interdisciplinary approach and brings together various areas of expertise. Three Bavarian clusters are pooling their expertise: the Strategic Partnership Sensor Technology e. V., the Environmental Cluster Bavaria and the New Materials Cluster of Bayern Innovativ. Together, they combine technological know-how from sensor technology with knowledge from the circular economy, urban mining and materials research. By developing appropriate technological and organizational strategies, the aim is to increase the security of supply along European value chains and sustainably strengthen the technological resilience of companies in the European innovation area. SENSURE offers the opportunity to develop solutions together with relevant stakeholders at an early stage and to initiate new collaborations.

The project is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy.

Focus: environmental sensor technology

The SENSURE project focuses on environmental sensor technology as a key technology for monitoring critical infrastructures and for civil protection and disaster prevention. Precise and robust measuring systems are a basic prerequisite for the assessment of environmental conditions - such as flood events, pollutant leaks or air pollution - and are therefore essential for the water and environmental economy as well as regional resilience.

SENSURE analyzes in which segments of sensor technology material bottlenecks are particularly critical, which raw materials currently lead to procurement risks and which alternative material systems can already be used in a technically and economically viable manner. Another focus is on the development of cross-industry collaborations in order to establish circular value creation models and recycling strategies more efficiently.

Aims of the project

SENSURE takes a systemic approach to reducing dependencies on critical raw materials and developing resilient, sustainable material strategies. The starting point is a detailed analysis of existing supply chains in order to identify vulnerable points, substitution potential and technological dependencies at an early stage.
Building on this, the project develops strategies for:

Design-for-recycling and material-efficient product developments,
the use of secondary raw materials and closed material cycles,
material substitutions that take equal account of technical performance and ecological effects.

In addition, the potential of urban mining is being investigated in order to systematically recover valuable raw materials from existing products, old appliances and infrastructures. The resulting findings are incorporated into practice-oriented recommendations for action for companies and political decision-makers and create the basis for further research and innovation projects.

Exchange with industry and research

A central component of the project is the structured dialog with stakeholders along the entire value chain. To this end, SENSURE is conducting a comprehensive stakeholder survey that systematically records challenges, experiences and solutions from practice.
Best practices from related fields of technology - such as battery recycling - are also deliberately included in order to identify transferability and synergies for environmental sensor technology.

Companies, research institutions and other organizations are invited to contribute their expertise and play an active role in shaping a resilient, circular raw materials ecosystem.