£14m for Kent-led project to advance recycling of rare metals

9 February 2024

Kent bioscientist Professor Martin Warren is set to lead a national consortia which aims to use biology to recover and recycle rare earth elements after securing funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The £14 million Engineering Biology Mission Hub for Environmental Processing and Recovery of Metals (ELEMENTAL) aims to address the growing need for critical minerals and metals in clean energy technologies and promote a circular economy.

Technologically critical metals, such as rare earth elements, cobalt, lithium and indium, pose significant challenges due to their limited availability and the environmental damage caused by their extraction. Recycling these metals is crucial for reducing the demand for primary mining and minimising environmental impacts.

The ELEMENTAL project will tackle this problem by bringing together specialists from various UK institutions, including the University of Kent, Quadram Institute, University of East Anglia, University of Manchester, Durham University, Natural History Museum, University College London, University of Surrey and the University of York.

Professor Warren, Professor of Biochemistry and Royal Society Industry Fellow at Kent’s School of Biosciences, and Quadram Institute Chief Scientific Officer, said, ‘Our ELEMENTAL engineering biology mission hub focuses on potentially transformative technologies that can help us steward our precious resources and help build a circular economy. We will take targeted approaches such as bioleaching, bioremediation, and biorecovery to address metal waste, rare earth elements (REE) and radionuclide waste, and metal scarcity.’

https://www.kent.ac.uk/news/sustainability-environment-and-natural-resources/34548/14m-for-kent-led-project-to-advance-recycling-of-rare-metals