Descycle

Descycle is a British e-waste recycling startup that uses the deep eutectic solvents (DES) recycling technology to process e-waste. The patented DES technology, which has been under development for nearly 20 years, looks at dissolving the target metals in a formulated solution without the need for toxic chemicals or high temperature, eliminating costly smelting processes involved in recycling e-waste. The DES solution can also be recycled and reused making the process a zero-carbon method of recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The company claims that its solution is 80x quicker than cyanide, allowing 99% metal extraction across a range of metals from e-waste.

As of January 2024, the company was building a large-scale pilot plant in the North East of England capable of recycling 5,000 tons of printed circuit boards and high-value WEEE annually, expected to start operations in 2024. After piloting, the company aims to construct its first commercial recycling plant in Gateshead.

Key customers and partnerships

In March 2022, the company partnered with UK’s waste processing logistics company, GAP Group, to build a pilot plant to scale up the DES process. During the same period, Descycle completed a Proof-of-Concept Study for Australian Mines on using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) for extracting transition metals from lateritic ores.

Funding and financials

In April 2023, Descycle raised GBP 4.85 million (~USD 6.06 million) in an upsized and oversubscribed pre-Series A funding round led by TSP Ventures. The company also secured a GBP 1 million (USD 1.2 million) grant from the UK government. The company intended to use the funds to advance commercialization and support delivering a lab pilot, a completed 18-month technical study, and the design of a large-scale pilot plant.