Highlights

• German biotech BIOWEG receives €1.5M from SPRIND to develop a water-based, low-energy REE recovery platform using fermentation acids and peptide-based selectivity.
• Partnership with TU Berlin and Juri Rappsilber targets distributed circular recovery from complex waste streams, addressing Europe's supply chain vulnerabilities.
• Project represents early-stage validation of modular recovery—not a mining replacement, but critical optionality against geopolitical concentration risks.

---

A €1.5 million grant from SPRIND (opens in a new tab) has pushed BIOWEG (opens in a new tab)—best known for fermentation-based materials in personal care—into rarified territory: rare earth element (REE) recovery. Partnering with Technische Universität Berlin and peptide-chemistry specialist Juri Rappsilber (opens in a new tab), the team aims to build a water-based, low-energy platform for selectively extracting REEs from complex waste streams. If it works, it opens a parallel market for BIOWEG and nudges Europe toward circular supply options it badly lacks.

Where the Science Rings True

The technical premise aligns with known constraints in Europe’s REE supply chain. Conventional solvent extraction is capital-intensive, energy-hungry, and environmentally fraught—poor fits for distributed circular recovery. BIOWEG’s use of bio-based acids (a secondary output of its fermentation platform) for bioleaching, paired with peptide-based selectivity in columns, reflects a potentially credible direction: milder conditions, aqueous systems, and improved selectivity. These are precisely the attributes needed for recovering value from dilute or mixed waste streams where pyro- or solvent-heavy routes fail economically.

The Leap from Lab to Line

Here’s the rub. Selective separation at scale—especially down to single-element purity suitable for magnet or phosphor supply chains—remains the hardest step. Peptide systems are promising, but throughput, durability, fouling, and cost curves are unproven outside controlled settings. The SPRIND award (Stage 1, three years) funds validation, not commercialization. Claims of “end-to-end” circularity should therefore be read as ambition, not outcome—yet.

Rare Earth Exchanges™ suggests that, given the strength of the Chinese monopoly, all sorts of pathways should be considered to reclaim and refine rare earth elements. However, this would not be a replacement for mining or large-scale refining; it’s a potential complement. The real signal isn’t volume—it’s optionality. Europe needs modular, low-impact recovery pathways to hedge against geopolitical concentration. In that context, the project’s significance lies less in tonnage and more in proving a repeatable, scalable pattern.

Bottom line: a smart, early-stage bet that addresses the right bottleneck with the right tools—provided expectations stay grounded and milestones stay measurable.

BIOWEG Background

BIOWEG is a German biotechnology company using precision fermentation and green chemistry to create high-performance, bio-based, and biodegradable ingredients that replace intentionally added microplastics and fossil-derived polymers. By converting food-industry side streams into high-purity bacterial cellulose and tailoring it into functional materials, BIOWEG supports reformulation in personal care, home care, and agriculture.

Founded in 2019 by Dr. Prateek Mahalwar and Srinivas Karuturi, the company operates a demonstration site in Quakenbrück, Germany, and a formulation, material science, and applications lab in Monheim on the Bayer Crop Science campus. BIOWEG’s product families include Micbeads (micro-powders), RheoWeg (rheology control), and AgriWeg (seed and fertilizer coatings).

Source: BIOWEG / TU Berlin press materials (Dec. 22, 2025)

© 2025 Rare Earth Exchanges™ – Accelerating Transparency, Accuracy, and Insight Across the Rare Earth & Critical Minerals Supply Chain.