Circular Materials develops, designs, patents, and builds unique solutions capable of transforming the industrial wastewater treatment market, which is constantly seeking innovation.
We propose a unique circular approach, reusing and recycling metals and metal oxides recovered from industrial wastewater on-site and generating new raw material. At the same time, we drastically reduce the degree of water pollution, making it easily manageable with traditional technologies. In this way, we respond to the European principles of the Green Deal.
We intend to advance Circular Materials to become the BAT (best available technology) for industrial wastewater treatment paired with the recovery of heavy and precious metals, offering reduced treatment costs, increased environmental sustainability, and opportunities for industrial process efficiency.
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 sludges that are then collected through filtration and drying operations. These inertized metals are eventually stored in landfills as special waste.
The metal then remains dispersed in an inert matrix and is not recovered. It is estimated that more than 95 percent of the metals in industrial wastewater are not recycled and end up in landfills, creating a huge risk to the environment, groundwater and humans. As well as a substantial economic loss.
The metal, therefore, leaves the value chain, and new mining and refining processes are required to generate new raw materials for the production cycle. With a considerable impact on greenhouse gases throughout the entire production & supply chain.
Although the chemical-physical precipitation methodology is effective in removing most metals from wastewater, there is a need for more sustainable solutions that aim to recover the resources contained in this wastewater and sludges.
Circular Materials enables the direct recovery of metals in industrial wastewater with an efficiency of more than 99 percent.
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 achieving the sustainability goals of the surface treatment industry.
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.
The recovery and recycling of metals originating from industrial wastewater not only helps reduce the impact on the environment and humans, but is also an opportunity to reduce the dependency on commodity markets, which are highly volatile, such as nickel, precious metals, and Critical Raw Materials (CRMs).
Circular Materials is committed to making a fundamental contribution to the European Green Deal, and has the following goals:
ZERO RELEASE of harmful substances to the environment for reducing industrial pollution impacting water and soil and reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals. Each year, more than 2,000 tons of heavy metals are released into surface waters due to the limited effectiveness of wastewater treatment technologies and from leaching of hazardous landfill sludges.
INCREASE THE AWARENESS of the industry to become increasingly sensitive to the circular economy, promoting the recovery, recycling and reuse of resources as secondary raw materials, thereby reducing mining and quarrying and dependence on volatile markets.
DEVELOP a clean, sustainable and safe technology for the treatment of industrial wastewater.
Circular Materials technology can contribute improving the UN Sustainable Goals:
The increased complexity in the composition of the effluent from galvanic processes requires effort in the management of the liquid, which must be properly pre-treated before being sent for metal precipitation and clarification by flocculation.
Similarly, after conventional treatment in the chemical-physical plant, the effluents often require additional procedures to comply with legal parameters, such as carbon filtration to reduce COD or the use of ion exchange resins to further reduce the concentration of dissolved heavy metals.
Indeed, the management of critical pollutants such as heavy metals, cyanides, and amines requires complex treatments (typically redox reactions that are sensitive to pH, time, and concentrations) and that can generate additional problems further downstream in the treatment process, such as increased chloride levels in the effluents and the risk of heavy metals passing into the final sludge.
Circular Materials proposes a unique solution for managing industrial wastewater, that is easier and more simple: Clean Water. Pure Metals.
Metals precipitated and reduced to sludge by conventional physical chemical treatment are the main raw material for the electroplating industry, and when separated by conventional systems, they become a costly, highimpact waste.
Circular Materials technology allows building a continuous flow, fully automated wastewater treatment plant.
With only water, and electricity as inputs, the end result is a liquid containing the metal or metals that precipitate in the form of a fine powder.
Depending on the operating parameters of the plant and the characteristics of the incoming fluid, the metals are separated in the form of oxide, hydroxide, or pure metal.
Metals separated by Circular Materials process are not lost as waste, but transformed back into a raw material.
During a single pass through Circular Materials plant, the process is able to eliminate cyanides and drastically reduce amines and COD as well as precipitating metals.
Surface treatment and finishing processes generate a large amount of industrial 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 result. These sludges must be stored in landfills equipped to stock special wastes.
These wastes create a huge environmental risk due to the leaching of toxic elements into the soil or ground or surface water. The latest European report indicates that 60 percent of surface water streams are not in good ecological status.
The use of chemicals for flocculation and precipitation not only increases the cost of treating industrial effluent, but there is another inefficiency to be taken care of: 95% of the dissolved metals in industrial effluent are not recovered or recycled, and new metal must be extracted to make up for this loss, with an even larger and more widespread environmental impact.
Many of these metals are extracted from geopolitically unstable regions, some are in short supply, and others still represent a very important resource for the Italian and European economies.
Circular Materials has designed, patented, and built a new process for treating industrial wastewater based on the properties of supercritical water. Its extreme efficiency allows us to recover 99 percent of dissolved metals.
This was done as a result of a growing awareness of the electroplating industry, which is constantly seeking innovative solutions to improve its sustainability.
Circular Materials responds perfectly to these needs as a unique contact point for an innovative, effective, efficient, and above all sustainable technology, supporting the development of a truly circular economy and responding to the objectives of national and European policies.
As an alternative to complement the technological solutions already available, Circular Materials offers an advanced technological solution for the treatment of even the most complex industrial waters.
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A Patented Technology
Circular Materials patented technology is based on the properties of supercritical water that are leveraged to effectively remove and recover metals from water.
At the same time, the process is able to remove most of the TOC, COD and more than 99.5 percent cyanides to deliver back a liquid that can be easily treated with existing on-site chemicalphysical plants or collected at a much lower cost than the original effluent.
The process is very simple: the liquids to be treated are mixed with supercritical water (T>374 °C and P>221 bar) in a patented mixer where an instantaneous precipitation process takes place: the dissolved metals behave as if they were in an apolar liquid, and form nucleation sites that grow into clusters until they become nanoparticles or microparticles.
In other words, the extreme drop of the dielectric constant of water under supercritical conditions (εRT=77 → εSC=2) drastically reduces the solubility of metal ions, causing them to precipitate into finely dispersed powders.
The speciation of the product (oxide, hydroxide, or metal), is governed by the redox and pH conditions, which are process parameters easily controlled through the use of “recipes” developed by Circular Materials’ engineers based on customer needs.
This suspension is finally cooled, the heat is recovered through exchangers, and the pressure is returned to ambient.
The liquids then enter a separation process, where the solid is separated from the water and recovered for valorization.
The water can then be routed to the normal chemical and physical purification process, but without dissolved metals or complex organic forms, simplifying its treatment.
Continous Innovation Circular Materials’ technology is young and already fully functional.
Our plants are protected by patents in Italy and Europe to ensure a high standard of technological innovation.
We have designed an ambitious technological innovation path that allows us to deliver to the market energy-efficient plants with a high degree of metal recovery, very high reliability and safety.
Our Engineering, Research and Development department is engaged daily in studying, developing, implementing and updating the process with new and effective solutions to have the best possible technology.
Safety
Safety is at the core of our operations. Our high-pressure and temperature plant operative system is designed to safely and automatically process qualified fluids.
Recovery and valorization of raw materials Precious metals and oxides can be recovered on site, which can be directly transformed into salts for electroplating bath regeneration.
A perfect example of circular economy.
Scalable and modular process
Our technology works with any dissolved metal in any wastewater, even the most corrosive and complex compositions.
Plant capacity can be easily adapted with modular treatment units and concentration units.
The continous operations of our plant are flexible and scalable.
High efficienty
More than 99% of dissolved metals are recovered as powder and separated from water, which is effectively demetallized.
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 needs.
Reduction in Total Cost of
Operations
With Circular Materials technology, economic resources can be freed up to apply them where they are most needed.
We expect to achieve an overall reduction in TCO (Total Cost of Operation) by solving the most complex problems, reducing or eliminating the production of sludge for disposal, effectively recovering valuable resources such as water and raw materials, particularly metals, that are kept within the production cycle.
Our high efficiency enables direct improvement over the state of the art.
Improving process sustainability
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.
Stringent standards.
Emission permits and emission limits are reviewed and made more stringent year after year.
Material substitution lists are expanded, impacting the choices made by the business. With our technology, we can address both. Metal removal after our treatment is already at tabulated levels without the use of any flocculation or precipitation technology and without sludge production.
The most complex baths can be safely and effectively treated by our plants.
Versatility
Our technology has been tested on more than 250 different wastewaters, consistently performing above 99 percent removal efficiency.
Our job is to provide an adaptive system that can work with all fluids that have been qualified for the process. In addition, Circular Materials engineers run a continuous improvement program to ensure that the software is up-to-date and that all technical and process improvements are transferred to the installed units.
User friendly
The only fluid used during operations is water, and the entire process is monitored through an automated control system that can dynamically optimize operating conditions according to the composition of the incoming wastewater.
Lowering the concentration of metals, COD and CN–.
Our technology can effectively oxidize organic components and cyanides to reduce the impact on further downstream treatment or requirements for other technologies, effectively representing a universal solution regarding industrial wastewater treatment.
Reliability
A detailed maintenance program is executed by Circular Materials technicians to provide maximum reliability and the highest uptime, without being worried to run a new technology.
Our qualification process always begins with an alignment with the client’s business objectives and a thorough analysis of the role of wastewater in the management of production facilities and processes. The goal is to identify possible areas for improvement that can be solved with the use of our technology.
The fluids that are most critical to successful operations and those that represent the most difficult challenges that we want to help solve are identified. The fluids are then sampled and analyzed in our laboratories, tested in our facilities, compared with the fluids 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 the actual fluids in the customer’s process.
We also offer the opportunity to view our plants in operation at our site in Cadoneghe (PD) using the sampled fluids directly, so that you can experience our technology firsthand.
We can also provide a test plant, to be installed at the operational site, while we build the final plant that will typically be delivered within three months.
We then proceed to define the available space at the installation site to understand how to integrate our plant with existing operations.
Installation of the final plant is carried out after testing all components and implementing all the know-how acquired during the months of testing.
A traning phase then follows to educate the operator in the use of the plant with the constant support of Circular Materials, which will take care of maintenance and all technical assistance..
We also provide support for LCA certification and for the valorization of the secondary raw material recovered through the plant.
Finally, we guarantee a plant that is always up-to-date, sharing all technological innovations developed by Circular Materials’ Engineering, Research and Development department.