Circular Materials

we are working for a sustainable future Clean future Circular future

Circular Materials recover and upcycle dissolved metals coming from industrial wastewater.

A Circular Approach

Circular Materials studies, develops, patents and build unique solutions capable of innovate in the critical & strategical raw materials recovery from industrial wastewater.

4+

Years of in-house & industrial development

14

Working specialists

+250

Industrial wastewater tested

Why do we do it?

Our Mission

Circular Materials is committed to preventing the dispersion of valuable resources into the environment by providing innovative and sustainable processes and technologies to recover and enhance metals and critical raw materials dissolved in industrial wastewater.

We transform linear value chains by offering our customers and partners greater environmental sustainability, reduced dependence on virgin raw materials, and optimized production cycles.

0

Zero Release

Prolong the useful life of elements (transition metals, precious metals, and CRMs) and keep them in the value chain, preventing valuable resources from being dispersed into the environment after the huge mining impact.

We believe that the materials we use and dispose of every day have immense value, and our priority is to recover them and reintroduce them into industrial processes, reducing our dependence on virgin raw material, minimizing waste and building a more sustainable future.

Awareness

Circular Materials' proprietary technologies and processes recover valuable resources, providing a scalable and cost-effective solution that benefits both the environment and the our partner's bottom line.

We are committed to working with companies in different industries to raise awareness toward greater resource circularity, promoting the recovery, recycling and reuse of resources as secondary raw materials, thereby reducing mining activities and dependence on volatile markets.

Goals

We are guided by the belief that a circular economy is not only possible but necessary. We are dedicated to offering integrated solutions for the management and utilization of industrial liquids, from initial analysis to implementation and ongoing support.

We are proud to be at the forefront of technological frontiers for a more sustainable future and are committed to our partners and stakeholders to drive positive change in the industry. We are committed to leading Circular Materials to become the technology of choice for industrial water recovery and valorization.

Technologies for sustainability

This is not a wastewater treatment technology!

Circular Materials provides a unique approach to make metal recovery from industrial wastes simple and effective
We propose a unique circular solution and reuse and valorize the recovered metal on site to generate new raw material
We quantitatively reduce the content of dissolved metals in the effluent with an efficiency of more than 99%
We build plants capable of processing wastewater in continuous flow, fully automatically to recover secondary raw material and clean water
A patented technology that is supported by the European Commission through the European Innovation Council (EIC)

Tradition vs Innovation

Traditional methods

Complex waste management

The increased complexity in the composition of the effluent from galvanic processes requires effort in the management of the liquid, which must be properly pretreated before being sent for metal precipitation and clarification by flocculation. Similarly, after conventional treatment in the chemical-physical plant, the waters often require additional procedures to come within legal parameters, such as carbon filtration to reduce COD or the use of ion exchange resins to further reduce heavy metals.

Critical Raw Materials as pollutants

In traditional treatments, the management of critical pollutants such as heavy metals, cyanides, and amines requires articulated treatments (typically redox reactions

pH, time and concentrations dependent) and that may generate additional problems downstream of treatment plants, such as the elevation of chlorides in emissions and the risk of heavy metals passing into the final sludge.

Wasting Raw Materials

Metals precipitated and reduced to sludge by conventional physical chemical treatment are the same metals that are the main raw materials for the electroplating industry, and when separated by conventional systems, they become a costly and environmentally high-impact waste that must be disposed of in landfills as special waste.

High Environmental Impact

Treatment processes and surface finishing industry generate a large amount of effluents that contain heavy and valuable metals. This generates significant environmental pressure: all current technological solutions capable of treating liquids containing heavy metals produce toxic sludge as a process result that must be stored in landfills equipped to receive special waste.

Chemical-Physical Precipitation

One of the most popular technologies for industrial water treatment is chemical-physical precipitation, which does not allow metals to be recycled and reused. Chemical-physical precipitation is based on insolubilization and flocculation reactions that separate metals from water, generating sludge that is then collected through filtration and drying operations. Metals thus inerted into sludge are eventually stored in landfills as special waste.

A Unique Solution

Circular Materials has designed, patented, and built a new process for treating industrial wastewater based on the properties of supercritical water, which with extreme efficiency can recover 99 percent of dissolved metals.

Recovery and valorization of raw materials

Precious metals and oxides can be recovered on site, which can be directly transformed into salts for regeneration of the electroplating bath. A perfect example of circular economy.

A Modular and Scalable Process

Our technology works with any dissolved metal in all wastewater, even the most corrosive and complex. Plant capacity can be easily adapted with modular treatment units and concentration units. Operations are flexible, scalable and continuous.

High Efficiency

More than 99% of dissolved metals are recovered as powder and separated from water, which is effectively de-metallized. Wastewater can be treated with modular units of 50 and 100L/h, with the possibility of integration with concentration units. Each plant has the right size to meet process requirements.

Sustainable Processing

We help reduce greenhouse gas emissions through LCA analysis and certification, which can be shared with customers and partners to help achieve ESG goals. We ensure the highest environmental performance in the industry.

Versatility

Our technology has been tested on more than 250 different wastewaters, with performance exceeding 99% on average. Our task is to provide an adaptive system that can work with fluids that have been qualified for the process.

Continuous improvement

Circular Materials engineers run a continuous improvement program to ensure that the software is up to date and that all technological and process improvements are transferred to the installed units

The Water of the Future

The recovery and recycling of metals originating from industrial wastewater plays a key role for Italy and Europe in the transition to a sustainable, clean, circular and efficient industry.

We are a young company committed to playing a key role in this transition to clean manufacturing, and we want to contribute to achieve the industry's sustainability goals.

Metals used in surface treatment processes have a high environmental impact, but at the same time they are irreplaceable and necessary resources.

Circular Materials aims to support the evolution of the surface treatment industry toward processes that are sustainable and in line with economic and environmental performance goals.

Recovering and recycling metals originated from industrial wastewater not only helps reduce impacts on the environment and humans, but is also an opportunity to decrease dependence on commodity markets, which are highly volatile, such as nickel, precious metals, and Critical Raw Materials (CRMs).

How do we do it?

Testing and Installation

1 Qualification and Alignment

Our process begins with an alignment with your business objectives and an in-depth analysis of opportunities for valorization of secondary raw material from wastewater. The goal is to identify the best recovery and valorization opportunities that can be implemented using Circular Materials technology.

2 Creating the Protocols

The most promising fluids that present the most relevant opportunities and that we want to help seize are defined, collected and analyzed. The fluids are then sampled and analyzed in our laboratories, tested in our facilities, compared with the liquids in our database, and optimized according to the KPIs defined during the goal alignment phase. Our goal is to identify the best treatment protocol and validate our technology with your actual fluids.

3 Testing the Technology

We offer the opportunity to view and test our plants at our operational site in Cadoneghe (PD), where we can test on increasing batches directly for your liquids and can then begin to generate and value second raw material.

4 Studying the Layout

We then proceed to define the available space at your site to figure out how to integrate our facility with your operations.

5 Test Facility

We can also provide a test plant, to be installed at your operating site, while we build the final plant that will typically be delivered within 3 months.

6 Installing the Technology

The installation of the final system is carried out after testing all components and implementing all the know-how acquired during the test trades.

7 Training

This is followed by a traning phase to educate the operator in the use of the plant with the ongoing support of Circular Materials, which will provide maintenance and all technical assistance.

8 LCA Certification

We also provide support for LCA certification and valorization of the secondary raw material recovered through the plant.

9 Updates

Finally, we guarantee a plant that is always up-to-date, sharing with you all the technological innovations developed by Circular Materials' R&D department.