TerraLoop combines hydrogen processing with bioleaching to recover rare earth elements and precious metals from electronic waste. A modular biorefinery designed for the circular economy.
The world mines rare earths at enormous environmental cost. Meanwhile, millions of tons of e-waste containing the same elements sit in landfills.
NdFeB magnets in hard drives, EV motors, and speakers contain neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium worth hundreds of dollars per kilogram. Circuit boards contain gold, palladium, and copper.
Current recyclers focus on one or the other. Magnet recyclers ignore precious metals. Precious metal smelters ignore rare earths. Both leave value on the table.
TerraLoop's hybrid approach recovers everything from the same waste stream.
Hydrogen metallurgy and biometallurgy working in parallel, extracting maximum value from every gram of e-waste.
NdFeB magnets are exposed to hydrogen gas at low temperature, forming metal hydrides that disintegrate into fine powder. No acids. No high heat. Just clean metallurgical separation.
Non-magnetic scrap enters a microbial leaching stack. Engineered biosorption selectively concentrates gold, palladium, and silver. Bio-oxidizers mobilize copper from the acid stream.
High-value concentrates and filter press cakes undergo targeted aqua regia treatment. XRF grading sorts material by purity. Final output: refined metals ready for industrial resale.
| Material | Market Value | Recovery Method |
|---|---|---|
| Neodymium Hydride | $100 - $150/kg | HPMS + powder collection |
| Dysprosium / Praseodymium | $400 - $600/kg | Acid leach + solvent extraction |
| Gold (Au) | $65,000 - $70,000/kg | Biosorption + aqua regia refinement |
| Palladium (Pd) | $30,000 - $40,000/kg | PCB slurry + precipitation |
| Copper (Cu) | $6,000 - $8,000/ton | Electrowinning after acid leach |
Every competitor in rare earth recycling focuses on a single recovery pathway. HPMS operators leave precious metals behind. Bioleaching startups skip the magnets entirely. TerraLoop integrates both into one modular facility, maximizing value per ton of e-waste processed.
HPMS operates below 300C. No smelting, no acid baths, dramatically lower energy and emissions than chemical separation.
Cupriavidus metallidurans selectively absorbs gold. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans oxidizes copper. Biology does the sorting chemistry cannot.
Hub-and-spoke deployment puts processing near feedstock sources. No six-month shipping cycles to distant smelters.
TerraLoop closes the loop between disposal and supply chain, turning discarded electronics into the raw materials for the next generation of clean technology.