German biotechnology company BIOWEG, in partnership with Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), has secured €1.5 Million from SPRIND, Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, as part of the Tech Metal Transformation Challenge. The funding will support the development of its waste-to-value platform technology for water-based Rare Earth Element (REE) recovery.
BIOWEG builds biotechnology platforms that convert industrial side and waste streams into higher-value functional materials using fermentation and green chemistry. The fermentation systems that underpin BIOWEG’s bacterial cellulose ingredients for cosmetics and personal care also generate bio-based acids as a secondary output, which is directed into other high-impact applications using secondary fermentation.
Despite REE demand surging in Europe due to an explosion in demand for electric vehicles, wind turbines and consumer electronics, the EU faces dangerous supply risks due to geographically-concentrated global production. Conventional REE recovery processes are highly energy-intensive, rely on solvents, and generate large quantities of toxic waste. These methods are also non-selective, environmentally harmful, and economically unsustainable for widespread circular use in Europe. BIOWEG has made progress in developing an alternative to the current high-energy, waste-intensive and non-selective recovery platform.
The aim of the Tech Metal Transformation Challenge is to develop and validate innovative processes for recovering critical metals from complex waste streams. including selective, water-based approaches that enable higher-purity outputs suitable for downstream use. The challenge also aims to drive forward the development of an end-to-end process whereby recovered metals can be directly used as functional materials. BIOWEG and TU Berlin were chosen by a jury of distinguished experts, in addition to seven other teams, to take part in Stage 1, which will last for three years. BIOWEG and TU Berlin competed against larger companies and research institutions to be selected for participation.
Dr Prateek Mahalwar, BIOWEG’s Co-founder & CEO, said, “The funding from SPRIND will allow us to accelerate the development of a sustainable and bio-based REE recovery platform in collaboration with TU Berlin. It is built on BIOWEG’s expertise of waste stream based fermentation platform and green chemistry, extending the application of capabilities we already use at scale in bacterial cellulose production.”
The platform technology combines BIOWEG’s expertise in bioacid production from waste streams for bioleaching with TU Berlin’s peptide-based separation technology using column systems. The process operates in water at ambient temperature, applying green-chemistry bioleaching without the use of solvents or high heat. The bio-based acids are generated as a secondary output of BIOWEG’s fermentation platform, requiring no additional downstream processing, resulting in a low-energy process with a reduced overall CO₂ footprint.
BIOWEG is collaborating with TU Berlin’s Professor Juri Rappsilber, a world-leading expert in peptide chemistry and speaker of the UniSysCat Cluster of Excellence.
Professor Juri Rappsilber of the Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin) added: “this partnership allows us to bridge the gap between fundamental research within the UniSysCat Cluster of Excellence and industrial-scale application. By leveraging the principles of Green Chemistry, we are combining our world-leading peptide innovation with BIOWEG’s fermentation expertise to create a truly circular solution for Europe’s metals sector. ”
BIOWEG is strengthening its position as a waste-to-value platform technology company, converting industrial side streams into high-value materials through fermentation and green chemistry. Alongside its established bacterial cellulose ingredients for cosmetics and personal care, the company applies the same waste-stream platform to additional applications where selective chemistry and low-energy processes can unlock significantly higher value.
