Phoenix Metals: Extracts Vanadium from Tata Steel’s Steel Slag for Safer Batteries

The phoenix is a mythical firebird that rises from its ashes. That is exactly what Phoenix Metals does with waste from refineries and steel mills: it brings raw materials back to life.

State Secretary Annet Bertram of Infrastructure and Water Management recently visited the company. She called it “an inspiring behind-the-scenes look at innovation, sustainability and the future of the metals industry.” “It’s great to see the ministry’s interest and that they understand what we’re doing here. State Secretary Thierry Aartsen also visited last year,” says Gijsbert Bakker, CEO and co-founder of Phoenix Metals.

Addressing the steel slag problem

This shows that the startup is viewed with optimism not only by the steel industry, but also by the government. The company could help solve a major issue in the Netherlands and Europe: what should be done with steel slag? The European steel industry produces 16 million tonnes of it every year.

Until now, this stony byproduct of steel production has mainly been used as fill material in civil engineering and road and water construction. But in recent years, concerns have emerged about its safety, as hazardous substances in steel slag can pollute water and soil. State Secretary Bertram therefore wants to ban its use unless it can be shown to be safe.

For example, Tata Steel, which produces 650,000 tonnes of steel slag a year, has already been issued an enforcement order by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) for refusing to classify its steel slag as hazardous.

Recovering critical metals

Phoenix Metals uses chemicals to recover a range of important metals from steel slag. One example is vanadium, which the EU has designated a critical and strategic raw material. It is used in armor and reinforcing steel, nuclear reactors, cars and rockets, tools and batteries. “Vanadium really is in everything,” says Bakker.

Steel slag also contains many other metals that the startup can recover, including iron, manganese—which is also a critical raw material—magnesium and calcium. All are useful building materials. This is known as urban mining.

Manganese can be reused in steel or batteries. Calcium can be used again in cement or steel. Iron can simply go back into steel furnaces. “We think we can recycle around 80 percent of the steel slag for reuse. Whether it is good or bad, burying steel slag underground is a waste. It means making insufficient use of ore,” says Bakker. “For example, steel slag contains as much vanadium as vanadium-bearing ore.”

Pilot plant near Tata Steel

Phoenix Metals recently partnered with Tata Steel Nederland, the major steel producer in IJmuiden. It is a win-win situation. Tata Steel supplies the steel slag from which the startup extracts metals. If successful, the process will help Tata Steel Nederland solve an environmental problem. “The Netherlands is leading the way in this field, but we’re already seeing interest from other steel mills in Europe too,” says Bakker.

To demonstrate that metals can be recovered from steel slag on a large scale, the startup is building a pilot plant in IJmuiden, a stone’s throw from Tata Steel. It is due to be completed by mid-2027.

Bakker says: “You have to demonstrate that it can work at scale. If the pilot plant can operate every day, it will be able to process 500 tonnes of steel slag a year. After that, you need to build your first commercial plant as quickly as possible. It should be able to process 100,000 tonnes a year. Ultimately, we want to scale that up to a million tonnes.”

If the pilot plant is successful, the company plans to start building the commercial plant in 2028. It is expected to be operational in 2031.

Selling vanadium to battery manufacturers

An important question for an innovative startup is: who are your customers? In Phoenix Metals’ case, who will buy the recovered metals? The startup plans to sell its vanadium to battery manufacturers.

The vanadium battery has been around since 1985. It is a proven technology and an alternative to the lithium-ion battery. While lithium-ion batteries can sometimes catch fire, vanadium batteries are non-flammable. This is why they are often used in data centers. They also last much longer than lithium-ion batteries. A third advantage is that vanadium batteries take up less space and can be installed more efficiently in buildings.

“There are already manufacturers of these batteries in Germany, Austria and Belgium, and now, with H2OVolt, in the Netherlands too,” says Bakker. “The problem with these batteries is their dependence on raw materials. Europe currently imports 95 percent of its vanadium—12,000 to 18,000 tonnes. We could make a difference by recovering vanadium from steel slag. There is so much vanadium in Dutch steel slag that we could meet a third of current demand, around 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes. But to make this a success and compete with imports, you have to operate at scale.”

Bakker also thinks there will be enough buyers for the other metals, although that is not the only market. “Our customer base is really two-sided. Steel mills are another type of customer. We offer them a solution for processing steel slag,” he says.

It all began in South Africa

The story of Phoenix Metals began years ago in South Africa, where the four founders, working as engineers, advised a client who wanted to extract vanadium from ore in a different way. Traditional methods used too much energy, which is expensive there. So the client wanted an alternative process.

Bakker and his colleagues recommended hydrometallurgy, a chemical process that uses liquids to extract metals from ore. “It uses less energy because you use chemicals. Instead of temperatures of 1,200 to 1,500 degrees Celsius, you’re working below 100 degrees,” he explains.

They studied the technology, but the client was unable to secure funding for the project due to other circumstances. Later, another client in the Netherlands asked them to process waste from the scrubbers on seagoing ships. The scrubbers clean exhaust gases from diesel and heavy fuel oil. They found vanadium in the waste, too.

Starting in 2020, they explored the possibilities together with a laboratory in Delft. That collaboration eventually led to the creation of a new startup: Phoenix Metals. In addition to scrubber sludge, the company also began recovering metals from refinery ash, but since 2023 it has focused on steel slag.

“In the long run, we’d like to tackle all industrial waste streams that contain metals, but we had to choose,” says Bakker. “One of the challenges in green chemistry is ensuring a reliable supply of raw materials. The advantage of steel slag is that you have a guaranteed volume. All the steel mills in Europe produce 16 million tonnes of steel slag a year. That is an enormous feedstock for us.”

Scaling up with grants

Hydrometallurgical technologies operate at low temperatures, making them relatively sustainable. Bakker says: “Our process has no Scope 1 emissions. We use electricity only and burn nothing. The calcium we produce is carbon-free. Normally, calcium is extracted from limestone, and the CO2 has to be driven off. That isn’t necessary here.”

Phoenix Metals started out at the Yes!Delft startup incubator and then moved to the adjacent laboratory to continue testing its technology. The R&D phase was funded with €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.

The startup is now in the pilot phase and is seeking investors for its pilot plant. It recently received €4 million from two regional development agencies—InnovationQuarter for South Holland and ROM InWest for North Holland—and regional investor and project developer Mossinkoff Investments.

Taking the technology to market with help from the Green Chemistry Accelerator

This year, Phoenix Metals is one of the participants in the Green Chemistry Accelerator (GCA), run by the Green Chemistry, New Economy platform (GCNE). The program was set up with Invest-NL and the Regional Development Agencies (ROMs) to help startups and scale-ups scale up their innovations, find investors and build demonstration plants.

This helps remove roadblocks and get them to market sooner. During the GCA, each participant works with experts and partners on a concrete plan over approximately 200 days. The process looks at the key goals to achieve, whether there is demand and a customer base for the product, and whether the business case stacks up. This is essential for attracting investors.

A sounding board of fellow startups

Bakker praises the caliber of the GCA specialists. “They offer advice on scaling up, focusing your company, defining your goals and figuring out how to achieve them,” he says. “For us, the challenge is scaling up the process and improving how we communicate with investors. This program helps with that. It’s also great that they bring in other companies to share their scaling-up experiences, such as Avantium.”

He also found the interaction with the other participants very valuable. “You can feel quite alone as an entrepreneur sometimes,” he says. “What’s great about the program is that they bring you together with other entrepreneurs in the same sector. You face similar challenges. They act as a kind of sounding board.”

This article was written by André Oerlemans for Change Inc.