PADUA, Italy (June 30, 2025) – Circular Materials announces two major milestones under the Critical Raw Materials Act: the recovery from industrial wastewater of the first kilogram of ruthenium and the first ton of nickel, preventing the release of heavy metals into the environment. These results were secured through strong collaborations with two leading companies in surface treatments: LEM, core company of the LEM INDUSTRIES Group, specialized in the luxury sector, and Argos Surface Technologies Group, a leader in industrial coatings.
This success comes just a few months after the European Commission recognized Recover-IT as a strategic project, confirming the pivotal role of Circular Materials in securing critical raw material supplies, increasing recycling, and reducing the EU’s dependence on imports.
Ruthenium and Nickel: crucial metals for a sustainable future
Ruthenium, a noble metal from the platinum group, is essential for cutting-edge sectors such as advanced electronics, green hydrogen production, fine chemicals, fuel cells, and luxury goods. Nickel, on the other hand, is a critical element, essential in advanced steels and lithium batteries —pillars of the energy transition.
Circular Materials’ proprietary SWaP (Supercritical Water Precipitation) technology delivers exceptional effectiveness and versatility to recover precious and industrially intensive metals.
A revolutionary environmental impact: carbon negative and beyond
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the process applied to ruthenium and nickel reveals a remarkable environmental benefit. For ruthenium, emissions are reduced by over 99.6% compared to traditional mining. Even more impressive is the result for nickel: the SWaP process not only reduces emissions but becomes carbon negative, actively avoiding the total CO₂ production associated with conventional methods.
“Circular Materials strengthens its technological leadership and, together with its partners, builds a solid and integrated circular supply chain capable of transforming industrial waste into new resources, preventing the loss of critical materials,” says Marco Bersani, Founder & CEO of Circular Materials. “With the industrial-scale recovery of ruthenium and nickel, we are shaping a strategy that reduces dependence on external sources, lowers the environmental impact of production processes, and valorizes waste streams that until now have been dispersed”.
“At Argos Surface Technologies, we see innovation and sustainability as two sides of the same coin, and our partnership with Circular Materials is a tangible example of what it means to create synergy within a circular economy framework. By providing our wastewater to enable the extraction of ‘strategic’ nickel, we are turning waste into a valuable resource for the energy transition. We are proud to contribute to this circular economy project, which demonstrates that every organization can play an active role by leveraging expertise, technology, and industrial vision.” says Andrea Siano, President of Argos Surface Technologies.
In a global context marked by the impacting scarcity of critical resources and the need to ensure a secure and sustainable supply, Circular Materials stands out as a key player in a new European industrial paradigm focused on recovering the resources the world needs most.
Read the full case studies here.
Media contact: Tiziana Sarto
tiziana.sarto@circularmaterials.it
