DEScycle opens UK e-waste recycling plant – Metal Tech News
DEScycle opens UK e-waste recycling plant
Metal Tech News – July 10, 2026
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DEScycle plans to recover copper, gold, silver, and palladium from circuit boards and other e-waste at its demonstration plant in the UK
DEScycle
UK government representatives joined DEScycle management, investors, stakeholders, and partners for the Teesside demonstration plant opening
Teesside demo plant is a step toward commercializing DEScycle’s platform and strengthening UK critical mineral supply chains
London-based DEScycle has opened an electronic-waste recycling demonstration plant in northeastern England that will test its metals recovery platform at an industrial scale while supporting a United Kingdom goal of meeting 20% of its annual critical minerals demand through recycling by 2035
“Critical metals are essential to Britain’s manufacturing, energy, technology and national security, yet too much valuable metal-bearing waste is still exported for processing overseas,” said Anna Turley, UK MP for the city of Redcar. “That means the UK loses materials, economic value, and control over strategically important supply chains. DEScycle’s plant in Redcar is an important step towards changing that.”
Located at the Wilton Centre in Teesside, the demonstration plant operates at a 250-kilogram batch scale and is designed to process 50 to 100 metric tons of complex e-waste annually
Initial operations will focus on printed circuit boards and other electronic feedstocks supplied through DEScycle’s UK joint venture partner, GAP Group
The first metals produced at the plant will be copper, gold, silver, and palladium. DEScycle is also developing capabilities to recover critical metals such as tin and aluminum
The facility is intended to bridge the gap between pilot-scale testing and repeatable commercial recycling installations in the UK and abroad
“This facility is the first operational blueprint for DEScycle’s distributed metals processing model,” said DEScycle CEO Leo Howden. “It allows us to prove the platform in an industrial environment, generate the data needed for commercial deployment and show how modular processing capacity can be replicated across industrial clusters in the UK, US, Europe and Japan.”
DEScycle
UK government representatives joined DEScycle management, investors, stakeholders, and partners for the Teesside demonstration plant opening
To shrink the environmental footprint of e-waste recycling, DEScycle has developed a process that uses non-toxic, non-aqueous salts known as deep eutectic solvents (DES) to recover critical metals from complex e-waste and other
According to the company, the process uses less water and operates at lower temperatures than conventional metals recovery methods, reducing energy consumption and associated carbon emissions
This sustainable e-waste recycling technology has attracted the attention of Silicon Valley-based Cisco Systems, which has partnered with DEScycle to test the platform for recovering critical metals from decommissioned Cisco hardware
Mitsubishi Corp is also collaborating with the British company to advance electronic-scrap recovery in Japan and will conduct an offtake study evaluating potential markets for metals produced at the Teesside plant
Together, these partnerships are expected to test three parts of DEScycle’s business model: feedstock supply, modular metals recovery, and downstream sales
The importance of the technology to the UK’s critical mineral strategy was underscored by a 50 million pound ($67 million) critical minerals investment unveiled by UK Industry Minister Chris McDonald during a June visit to DEScycle’s Teesside demonstration plant
Half of the funding unveiled by McDonald has been earmarked for critical mineral extraction, processing, and recycling projects
Another 5 million pounds ($6.7 million) has been allotted for consolidating critical minerals demand across UK industries, and the remaining 20 million pounds ($26.8 million) is to establish a national rare earth magnets hub
Keeping more critical minerals in the UK through recycling is a key facet of the nation’s strategy, and the DEScycle platform is a homegrown technology for achieving that objective
“The UK generates millions of tonnes of e-waste each year, most of which goes abroad for recovery and recycling,” said UK Waste Minister Mary Creagh. “Recovering these critical metals and materials here in the UK is vital for our supply chain resilience, re
“I am delighted to see a British start-up like DEScycle showing how innovation strengthens the circular economy and reduces our reliance on sometimes fragile overseas supply chains,” she added
Following the processing of demonstration-scale batches supplied by Cisco, GAP Group and other partners, DEScycle plans to build a 5,000-metric-ton-per-year commercial recycling plant in Gateshead, England
The company says operating data generated at Teesside will help establish the technical and commercial basis for that larger facility and subsequent international expansion
Shane Lasley, Metal Tech News
With more than 18 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration, and technology metals
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 907-726-1095
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-lasley-ab073b12/
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