Circular Materials has secured €11.8 million in financing to expand its technology for recovering critical and strategic raw materials from industrial wastewater. The round included CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, EIT RawMaterials, 360 Capital, Corbites and Lumar.
The Padua, Italy-based company will use the funding to scale its patented Supercritical Water Precipitation technology, known as SWaP. The process combines wastewater treatment with the recovery of metals that can be returned to industrial supply chains.
Industrial wastewater from electroplating, battery recycling and chemical manufacturing can contain valuable metals that are typically treated as contaminants. Conventional treatment methods frequently remove these materials while producing hazardous sludge that requires additional handling and disposal.
Circular Materials said SWaP can recover more than 99% of dissolved metals from complex liquid waste streams. The technology is also designed to substantially reduce the amount of hazardous sludge generated compared with traditional treatment methods.
Recovered materials can be used as secondary raw materials, reducing dependence on newly mined resources. This approach could also strengthen European supply chains for metals considered important to energy, transportation, electronics and industrial manufacturing.
Circular Materials operates its first industrial facility in Padua. The site has received End-of-Waste status under the European Waste Framework Directive, allowing recovered materials that meet applicable requirements to be sold and reused rather than continuing to be regulated as waste.
The company was selected by the European Commission as a Strategic Project under the Critical Raw Materials Act in March 2025. The designation reflects the potential role of industrial resource recovery in improving Europe’s access to strategically important materials.
The new capital will support the expansion of Circular Materials’ operational capabilities and further development of the SWaP platform. The company also plans to build its next Circular Materials Hub in Ferrara, Italy.
The Ferrara project is expected to increase Circular Materials’ annual treatment capacity from approximately 3,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes. Expanding capacity will allow the company to process greater volumes of industrial wastewater and recover more materials for reuse.
Founded in 2019, Circular Materials is working to establish a circular supply chain in which metals are recovered, processed and reintroduced into industrial operations. BonelliErede provided legal support in connection with the financing.
