Catching new-energy vehicle boom, Hong Kong start-up plans to recover valuable metals from rare-earth processing waste
- Achelous is seeking investors for a research and refining facility in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to recover wastes from rare-earth processing plants
- Tighter environmental curbs and high energy costs make refining and waste recovery efforts profitable, co-founder says
The firm is discussing seeking up to HK$40 million (US$5.1 million) to establish a pilot research and refining facility in a new industrial complex within the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, according to co-founder and technical director Alan Wong Yuk-chun. A similar facility could be built in the Greater Bay Area in future, he added.
Increasing constraints on rare-earth mining in mainland China and rising global demand for expensive metals – raw materials crucial to the functioning of electronic parts and low-carbon energy equipment in NEVs – have made recycling of certain metals worthwhile, he added.
“For the best part of the past two decades, the rare-earth industry has primarily used the chemicals-heavy solvent extraction technique to do large-scale processing,” said Wong. “In recent years, the emphasis has shifted to quality rather than quantity.”
Achelous’ proposed facility will be at the Advanced Manufacturing Centre in Tseung Kwan O, part of a HK$4.75 billion nine-storey centre promoted by the government as a base for technology-driven re-industrialisation of Hong Kong.