Situation Analysis
- Ragn-Sells is building a factory in Narva by 2030, where oil shale ash currently lying unused in mountains will be given new life.
- From the ash, it will be possible to extract magnesium, silicon, and aluminum, among other materials, which are critical raw materials for the European economy that industries such as automotive, defense, and semiconductor depend on.
- The opportunity to solve Europe's raw materials crisis is a springboard for Estonia's economy. Additionally, the over 300 million investment will bring approximately 100 jobs to Ida-Virumaa.
- But Ragn-Sells already has a problem today. If Estonian young people's interest in chemistry doesn't increase, the circular economy factory won't have specialists.
- Ultimately, Estonia's economy will miss a great opportunity to transform Ida-Virumaa's mining and industrial waste into raw material banks for European industry through innovative scientific solutions.
- The shortage of chemistry teachers and young people's low interest in the subject affects our economy, industry, investments, and ultimately taxes and people's welfare through a chain reaction.
- Even state-funded study places in chemistry-related fields remain unfilled at universities
- Estonia's chemical industry and other sectors need more specialists than are being trained
- The shortage of chemistry teachers or uneven standards reduce young people's interest in the field
- Young people lack interest in the field because they aren't told about chemistry career opportunities in Estonia and globally.
- In sectors so strategic for Estonia's economy such as chemical industry, green technology, materials science, pharmacy, and food industry, there is already a shortage of the necessary number of specialists.
Objectives
- To motivate young people to study chemistry or other science subjects at university, Ragn-Sells proposed an idea to the Ida-Virumaa Local Governments Union – let's take local school gymnasium students out of the classroom and give them a chemistry lesson directly on the ash mountain.
- Show them that their familiar ash mountains are not garbage heaps, but rather material banks that could save European automotive and defense industries from dependence on Chinese raw materials.
- Encourage young people that by studying chemistry, they have the opportunity to truly change life in Ida-Virumaa, Estonia, and Europe.
- That by studying chemistry, they choose a valued future profession with good salaries and career opportunities.
Action Plan
- Two schools joined the idea – chemistry club students and teachers from Kohtla-Järve and Jõhvi Gymnasiums.
- At the Ahtme oil shale ash mountain, the entire chain was unrolled before the young people, showing how calcium carbonate can be extracted first from old ash, which is an essential component in paints, putties, flooring materials, medicines, and many other consumer goods around us.
- Students were able to literally test what the new raw material made from ash tastes like – ultra-pure calcium carbonate, which already has great interest from domestic and foreign industries today.
Results
The feedback from students and teachers to the pilot lesson was strong and supportive. Therefore, it was agreed that similar lessons would be made regular for other schools as well, as soon as Ragn-Sells opens its oil shale ash valorization demo factory in Narva in January 2026, where chemistry lessons can be organized directly at the epicenter of the innovation hub that needs workforce and specialists.