people in many Some parts of the world are trying to reduce their impact on the climate. From companies to countries, many groups have goals to reduce their environmental impact. With innovation in areas like electric vehicles, wastewater treatment, and battery recycling, among many others, those goals seem easier to achieve than ever.
But could it really be that easy?
While much of this progress prepares countries and organizations for a cleaner future in the long term, the actual transition to cleaner technology is not very, well, clean. Many of these cleaner options require batteries, which are composed of rare metals that must be mined and smelted in high-carbon processes. There is also no great solution yet for recycling such batteries en masse.
Many startups have pivoted to cleantech in recent years, and while they are doing good work in bringing new technologies and cleaner processes to the table, few are solving high-carbon supply chain problems. of the clean technology industry. But Nth Cycle is trying to help.
Nth Cycle has created technology that allows its customers to refine and recycle rare metals on site. This reduces the cost and environmental impact of shipping these metals abroad for refining or recycling, especially since around 85% of rare metal processing currently occurs in China. according to the US Department of Commerce. Nth Cycle also does not use high carbon smelting to process materials.
The company's co-founder and CEO, Megan O'Connor, believes that accelerating this process and making it cheaper is essential for the transition to clean energy. With the current offshore supply chain, there is no way for countries like the United States to meet their climate goals on time. The rare metals needed to achieve this are sufficient, but they will not be used quickly enough. Nth Cycle hopes its ability to remove a very timely part of the supply chain will help.
