SENSURE project launch: Bavaria strengthens raw material resilience for environmental technology sensors

09.02.2026

With the SENSURE project, Bavarian clusters are strengthening raw material security for environmental sensor technology. Recycling and closed-loop strategies are intended to ensure resilience, sustainability and technological sovereignty.

The joint project SENSURE - Securing the availability of raw materials for environmental technology sensors through resilience with recycling and circular economy strategies - was launched on January 1, 2026. In the 12-month project, the Cluster New Materials (CNW), the Environmental Cluster Bavaria and the Sensor Technology Cluster are pooling their expertise to make the supply of critical raw materials for sensor applications more resilient, sustainable and independent in the long term.

Sensors are considered a central technology for population and infrastructure protection, especially for monitoring environmental and climate data, predicting natural disasters and numerous security-relevant applications. This makes them a key technology within the National Security and Defense Industrial Strategy. At the same time, dependence on critical raw materials that are subject to geopolitical and environmental risks is increasing.

SENSURE addresses these challenges through the development of recycling and circular economy strategies, the identification of substitution and reuse potentials and the establishment of an interdisciplinary cooperation network between industry, research and politics. The aim is to strengthen technological sovereignty in the field of environmental and sensor technology and to secure value creation potential for Bavaria and Germany.

The project follows the political and legal framework conditions at European and national level, including Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 - Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), as well as the Bavarian Circular Economy Strategy. Dialogue processes planned from 2025 in the electronics and ICT sectors also provide important interfaces for the project results.

With SENSURE, the participating clusters are creating a central exchange and innovation platform. The results should provide concrete recommendations for action, pilot approaches and impetus for industrial implementation - and thus make an important contribution to raw material security and the sustainable expansion of the sensor industry.