BioMetallica utilizes biometallurgy and synthetic biology to extract precious metals from e-waste and spent catalysts, achieving up to 99% recovery efficiency while minimizing environmental impact. Their process reduces energy consumption by six times and costs by three times compared to conventional recycling methods, effectively addressing the issue of toxic e-waste disposal.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Traditional methods of precious metal recycling from e-waste and spent catalysts, such as incineration, release toxic emissions and are energy-intensive. These conventional approaches often result in incomplete metal recovery and pose significant environmental and health risks.
Solution
BioMetallica employs biometallurgy and synthetic biology to sustainably extract precious metals from electronic waste and spent catalysts. Their bioleaching process utilizes engineered bacterial strains to oxidize and dissolve metals, followed by metal reduction, separation, and purification. This biomimicry solution achieves high metal recovery rates while significantly reducing energy consumption and costs compared to conventional recycling methods. The technology minimizes environmental impact by eliminating toxic smoke emissions and wastewater generation, promoting a circular economy for precious metals.
Target Audience
The primary customers are precious metal recyclers, e-waste processing facilities, and industries utilizing spent catalysts seeking sustainable and cost-effective metal recovery solutions.
Features
- Engineered bacterial strains for enhanced biogenic cyanide production, increasing bioleaching efficiency.
- Four-step recycling process: pre-treatment, bioleaching, metal reduction, and separation & purification.
- Achieves up to 99% recovery efficiency for rhodium and high recovery rates for platinum and palladium.
- Significantly lower energy consumption (6x less) and costs (3x cheaper) compared to traditional methods.
- Multi-metal recovery of platinum, palladium, rhodium, gold, and silver.
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 44 tons of CO2 equivalent per ton of waste feedstock recycled.