Looking back at ISIE 2025 – highlights from Singapore

Earlier this summer, Lana Söltzer from our institute’s Resource Supply Systems team attended the 12th International Conference on Industrial Ecology (ISIE 2025) in Singapore. The conference offered a broad programme from material flow and life cycle analyses in construction, textiles and automotive sectors to in-depth sessions on critical raw materials.

Lana presented a poster on critical materials for batteries, applying a material flow analysis (MFA) to EV and stationary storage batteries. She assessed recycling and second-life options and asked a crucial question: Can the planned battery expansion be realised given current and projected mining capacities, reserves, resources and recycling infrastructure?

One highlight of the conference was the strong focus on criticality assessments across sectors showing the variety of methods and applications in use. Another was the excursion to Marina Barrage, where Singapore’s strategies for water supply, flood management and sustainable urban systems were presented – a fascinating example of integrated solutions beyond the conference halls.

The discussions and impressions from ISIE 2025 continue to enrich our reflections at ICE-2 on sustainable battery systems in Europe and beyond.