From waste to valuable materials
Phoenix Metals is a deep-tech and urban mining company that develops low-temperature hydrometallurgical technologies to recover vanadium and other valuable materials from industrial waste such as steel slag, refinery residues and marine waste. Unlike conventional processes, which selectively recover only one high-grade metal, Phoenix Metals aims to valorise the entire material stream. In the case of steel slag, the company focuses on the recovery of vanadium, alongside iron, magnesium, manganese, calcium-based products and other reusable mineral fractions.
Broad societal impact
The innovative technology of Phoenix Metals has a threefold societal impact. Firstly, it offers a solution to a major industrial challenge. Secondly, it strengthens Europe’s strategic autonomy by ensuring that critical materials, such as vanadium, remain within Europe. Currently, 95% of the vanadium is imported. Vanadium is a critical raw material for vanadium flow batteries; these are seen as a promising solution for large-scale energy storage for the benefit of grid operators, industrial clusters, data centres and renewable energy projects. In this way, Phoenix Metals’ technology also contributes to the European energy transition.
Strong support from the private and public sectors
Alongside its current investment round, Phoenix Metals has secured more than €5 million in grants from the European Just Transition Fund, the provinces of South Holland and North Holland, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), and Kansen voor West. This combination of private and public funding for Phoenix Metals reflects the growing strategic and economic importance of recovering critical raw materials from industrial waste streams already available in Europe.
That is why ROM InWest invested
Reynier de Monchy, Senior Investment Manager at ROM InWest: “Phoenix Metals demonstrates how innovation can unlock new value from industrial residual streams. By combining ground-breaking technology with a pilot facility in IJmuiden, the company is creating more circular and resilient industrial value chains in our region, whilst simultaneously meeting a strategic European need for critical raw materials. We are proud to support the team in this next phase of industrial scale-up.”
Want to know more about Phoenix Metals? Read it here entrepreneur's story by Gijsbert Bakker and Stijn van Zelst.
