British high-tech company Descycle is “implementing science fiction” in recycling metals to support AI growth, managing director and co-founder Leo Howden said at CogX festival in London on Friday, The National writes. Descycle uses chemical innovations to dissolve the metals in electronic waste and recycle them, supplying a growing demand for metals and sparing the smelters and toxic chemicals conventionally needed to process these metals.

The rationale: Soon enough, exponential AI growth will need far more data centers and complex hardware, meaning a lot more metal will be required. This includes more copper wire and plating to conduct electricity, more gold for high speed connections, and more palladium for power delivery. Descycle looks to fill that gap with recycled metals.

The technology: Based on a new strand of chemistry, known as deep eutectic solvents, or Des, which includes a mixture of organic, biodegradable, and recyclable commodities, Descycle can transform a metal into a liquid in the most-carbon efficient way there is, “just like a cube of sugar dissolves in a cup of coffee” said Howden. This means the metal in e-waste such as old circuit boards can be recovered without the need for high temperatures in energy-hungry smelters.“If you want copper for electrification, we can get the copper out. If you want nickel, cobalt, manganese for electric vehicle batteries, we can get that out, too,” he added.

Why it matters: Without recycling technologies like Des, the growth in AI and decarbonising products — think EVs — could lead the world down a tricky environmental path. Globally, over 50 mn tonnes of e-waste is produced every year, only 17% of which gets recycled, and that’s forecasted to double in the near future, Descycle’s managing director explained. Great opportunities arise from e-waste which could potentially create a circular economy for metals.

More on Descycle: Founded in 2018, the London-based deep-tech company aims to transform the metals industry with clean technology. Descycle is the world’s fastest growing waste stream and is expected to reach USD 82 bn annually by 2030. The company works with multiple metals and mining partners to supply critical and battery metals that would get the ball rolling on a global transition to a low-carbon economy.