CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Name: Rob Harris E-mail: Rob.Harris@descycle.com Website: www.descycle.com Funding required: £8-12 million
This integration with existing recyclers is key to disruption. We offer them a sustainable solution to recycle metals on-site, rather than be forced to sell their recycling outputs (PCBs) at low values. This will enable circular economies to be created at scale locally and stop the export and transport of a hazardous waste recycling market. THE SOLUTION E-waste recycling, the world’s fastest growing waste stream, growing from an annual total of US$91bn in 2022 to $120bn by 2030. DEScycle aims to recycle the precious and critical metals in E-waste, of which printed circuit boards are the primary feedstock. The UK is the world’s second highest generator of E-waste per capita, producing 23.9kg/person/year, and currently has no capacity to fully recycle metals from E-waste. Currently, E-waste is only recycled by sending to highly pollutive and energy intensive smelters outside the UK, where the metals are now lost from the UK’s circular economy. DEScycle’s technology solution is a low energy, non-toxic and low CO 2 footprint and can recover greater than 99% of metals contained in the E-waste. These metals once processed by DEScycle’s technology, will then be sold back to industries who will reform these materials into new products. The plastics are not damaged during the leaching process using DES and can be resold or reprocessed by plastics recyclers. Our technology reduces the need for smelting, benefiting the environment and encourages existing waste collectors and recyclers to increase collection rates which will greatly support the circular economy and reduce waste to close to zero.
Already raised: £5 million (verbal commitment only)
ELEVATOR PITCH Sustainable E-waste recycling using Deep Eutectic Solvents. DEScycle have developed a chemistry- based solution to recycle the world’s largest growing waste stream, E-waste, using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES). DES are non-toxic, biodegradable, and recyclable solvents that replace the need for toxic and pollutive smelters or the need for the use of dangerous chemicals. THE PROBLEM DEScycle aims to recycle the precious and critical metals in E-waste, of which printed circuit boards are the primary feedstock using novel, environmentally sustainable chemistries known as Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES). Once captured and recovered by the DES, these metals will then be sold back to industries who will reform these materials into new products. We are addressing this by developing a zero carbon, zero particulate emission recycling process to replace the environmentally damaging process of smelting (the current method of metals recycling from E-waste). Our process is also remarkably capital light, allowing for the first time, sophisticated metals recycling to take place on a local scale rather than using billion dollar smelting operations.
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