Carbon
Replacing high-temperature smelting and energy-intensive chemical leaching with an ambient-temperature biological process.
View carbon data
01 Environmental & social impact
Measured impact.
Measured impact.
Independently verified.
Bio-recovery is only meaningful if it can be proven. Every metric on this page is drawn from pilot-scale trials, verified against recognised methodologies, and reported under the frameworks our industrial partners and funders require.
02 Our thesis
Impact happens on three axes
Metal recovery touches carbon, materials and water simultaneously. We measure all three — because trading one for another is not progress.
Materials
Returning critical metals to productive use from streams that would otherwise be landfilled, stockpiled, or exported.
View material flowsWater & waste
Closed-loop fluid handling with ≥85% water recycling and no hazardous byproduct streams.
View water & waste data
03 Carbon
40% lower carbon intensity
Compared with conventional pyrometallurgical recovery for the same feedstock and metal output — measured on a cradle-to-gate basis.
−40%
CO₂e reduction vs. smelting
−50%
Energy consumption
1.2t
CO₂e avoided per tonne of Li recovered
20°C
Operating temperature (vs. 1,400 °C)
Based on pilot-scale trials, e-waste and mine-tailings feedstocks. Modelled against a pyrometallurgical baseline using IPCC AR6 GWPs. View methodology.
MER (BioMetallix)
Chemical leaching
Pyrometallurgy
Relative carbon intensity per tonne of recovered metal. BioMetallix is shown as baseline; alternatives are indexed against it.
04 Materials
Returning metals to productive use
Every tonne of metal recovered through MER is a tonne that does not need to be mined, shipped, or smelted from virgin ore.
01
Waste streams
E-waste, mine tailings, spent battery black mass — material currently treated as a liability.
02
Bio-recovery
Microbial consortia liberate target metals from the bulk matrix, at ambient conditions.
03
Refinement
Metal salts are separated, purified and certified against battery-grade specifications.
04
Re-entry
Recovered metals return to battery, alloy and catalyst supply chains — closing the loop.
≥ 70%
Metal recovery from mixed feedstocks
3×
Higher selectivity vs. chemical leaching
0
Toxic byproducts to manage or dispose
100%
Recovered metal traced & reported
05 Water & waste
Designed to be contained
No off-gas. No acid effluent. No slag.
Bio-recovery is inherently a wet process, so we take water stewardship seriously. MER units operate a closed-loop leachate system with ≥85% internal water recycling, and the small residual bleed is treated on-site before discharge.
There is no off-gas to scrub, no molten slag to dispose of, and no acid effluent stream to neutralise. The process output is a clean barren residue — which most sites can reclassify from hazardous to non-hazardous waste.
≥ 85%
Water recycled in-loop
0
Off-gas streams
0
Molten slag outputs
≥ 80%
Residue down-cycled vs. landfilled
Site-specific figures vary with feedstock and local regulation. Projected values confirmed during the feasibility study.
06 UN SDG alignment
Where we map to the Sustainable Development Goals
Aligned to the goals our funders and industrial partners report against. Not a marketing claim — a reporting framework we use internally.
07
Affordable & clean energy
Lower-carbon supply of the critical metals required for electrification.
08
Decent work & economic growth
Skilled green-tech jobs across engineering, operations and analytics.
09
Industry, innovation & infrastructure
Modular bio-recovery infrastructure deployable at the point of waste.
11
Sustainable cities & communities
Urban mining of e-waste streams where the material is generated.
12
Responsible consumption & production
Closed-loop material flows — waste becomes feedstock, not landfill.
13
Climate action
Direct decarbonisation of metal recovery — a hard-to-abate industrial process.
07 Verification
How we know the numbers are real
Data integrity, not greenwashing.
Every impact claim on this page is generated by instrumentation inside the bioreactor, recorded continuously, and reported under recognised frameworks. Nothing is estimated after the fact.
Third-party audits are commissioned annually. Reports are shared with clients, funders and regulators.
Instrumented data capture
Continuous telemetry from every MER unit — flow, temperature, energy, chemistry — logged and timestamped.
GHG Protocol & CSRD aligned
Carbon calculations follow the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard. Reports structured for CSRD and UK SECR compliance.
Annual third-party audit
External review of process data, methodology and reported figures. Audit summaries available on request.
Client-visible dashboards
Live access to your own site's impact metrics through the Bio Data Analytics Platform — no black boxes.
08 Across the chain
Impact flows to every stakeholder
Bio-recovery is only worth doing if it makes commercial and environmental sense for everyone in the chain.
Industrial waste generators
Turn a disposal cost into a revenue stream. Reduce Scope 3 emissions and hazardous waste liabilities.
Battery & EV manufacturers
Secure domestic, traceable supply of battery-grade lithium, cobalt and nickel. Reduce exposure to mining risk.
Governments & regulators
Domestic critical-minerals capacity, aligned with EU CRM Act and UK Critical Minerals Strategy.
Local communities
Skilled green-tech jobs on brownfield industrial sites. No new mining, no new smelting.
Investors & funders
Measurable environmental return alongside commercial return, aligned to EU Taxonomy criteria.
The environment
Less ore mined, less energy consumed, less toxic waste created, more material kept in circulation.
09 Commitments
What we hold ourselves to
Public targets we report against every year — including the ones we might miss.
By 2026
Net-zero operations across pilot and commercial sites
Scope 1 and 2 emissions fully offset through PPAs and on-site generation.
By 2027
One million tonnes of feedstock processed cumulatively
Across all operating MER units — measured and published annually.
By 2028
Zero hazardous waste sent to landfill from any MER site
Residue down-cycling and local re-use programs across all deployments.
Ongoing
Publish an annual impact report
Independently reviewed, publicly available, covering both progress and shortfalls.
10 Documentation
Request the impact report.
A full technical dossier covering our methodology, third-party verification process, and site-level performance data for the last reporting period.