Reecover
REEcover is a Zurich-based ETH Zurich spin-off developing a patented synthetic metallosulfur chemistry platform to recover rare earth elements, including Europium and Yttrium, from electronic waste streams for recycling companies and industrial partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersZürich, Switzerland
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Reecover does
REEcover is a Swiss cleantech startup founded in 2023 as a spin-off from ETH Zurich, developing a patented electrochemical process that uses synthetic metallosulfur molecules to recover rare earth elements (REEs) such as Europium and Yttrium from electronic waste. The company's core technology, branded REVOC, achieves a separation factor reported as 10 times superior to existing hydrometallurgical methods while avoiding toxic chemicals and reducing energy consumption, addressing a separation challenge that has constrained REE recovery for roughly 200 years. Application development is structured around four waste-stream modules: energy-saving lamp phosphors (proof of concept), end-of-life magnets, industrial waste streams such as catalysts and glass-polishing residues, and strategic-sector materials for defense and semiconductor applications.
REEcover operates from ETH Zurich's Hönggerberg campus under an 18-month ETH Pioneer Fellowship and runs a six-person team led by Dr. Marie Perrin (CEO), Maria Pujos (co-founder, finance and business), and Prof. Dr. Victor Mougel (academic co-founder). The business model is multi-pronged and pre-commercial: planned technology licensing to recycling operators, potential direct sale of recovered REEs, and process-development services. Pilot validation is being executed with a cluster of European industrial partners including BAREC, PX Group, Veolia's BLUBOX facility, Paprec Group, and NoOPS, with new feedstock samples actively processed in 2025-2026. The company has accumulated high-visibility recognition including the European Patent Office Young Inventors Prize (World Builder, June 2025), the European Young Chemists Award Gold Medal, the ETH Spark Award (2024), and a Nature Communications publication, alongside roughly CHF 7,500 plus EUR 15,000 in grant and prize funding to date.
Reecover firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Reecover
- Legal name
- REEcover
- Website
- https://reecover.ch
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- REEcover is a Zurich-based ETH Zurich spin-off developing a patented synthetic metallosulfur chemistry platform to recover rare earth elements, including Europium and Yttrium, from electronic waste streams for recycling companies and industrial partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Reecover industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Rare Earth Recycling
- NAICS
- Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)
- SIC
- Secondary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3341)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Precious & Specialty Metal Recovery (Smelting, Refining, Hydrometallurgy) (EUAIAIAD)
Keywords
Where Reecover is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zürich
- HQ country
- Switzerland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Reecover business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Technology Licensing: Licensing proprietary rare earth recovery technology to recycling companies and industrial partners. The company holds a patented technology emerging from ETH Zurich research.
- Recovered Rare Earth Elements: Direct sale of recovered rare earth elements (e.g., Europium, Yttrium) extracted from electronic waste streams including energy saving lamps, magnets, and industrial waste.
- Process Development Services: Working with industrial partners to develop and scale recycling processes for specific waste streams, evidenced by collaborations with BAREC, PX Group, and Paprec Group.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Reecover product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Reecover recovers rare earth elements (REEs) from electronic waste streams such as end-of-life magnets, LCD screens, and energy-saving lamps using a proprietary synthetic metallosulfur molecule technology (REVOC). The company licenses its separation platform to recycling operators and sells recovered REEs directly to industrial buyers, leveraging an ETH Zurich-developed chemistry that achieves a 10x improvement in separation factor compared with existing methods.
Product overview
REEcover is a cleantech startup offering a patented chemical technology platform for recovering rare earth elements (REEs) from electronic waste. The core offering consists of their proprietary REVOC synthetic metallosulfur extractant that achieves separation efficiency 10x superior to existing technologies. The company has developed multiple application modules targeting specific waste streams: Energy Saving Lamps Recycling (Europium/Yttrium recovery as proof of concept), Rare Earth Magnets Recycling, Industrial Waste Processing (catalysts, glass), and Strategic Sectors Recovery (defense, semiconductors). REEcover's first lab pilot for proprietary extractant synthesis has been built with integrated gas recycling setup, and the company is scaling up from laboratory research toward commercial deployment.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- REVOC: Trademark name for REEcover, meaning 'cover backwards' reflecting circularity. Multiple interpretations: Recover, Extract, Valorize, Optimize, Circulate.
Products and services
- REVOC Rare Earth Recovery Technology (Licensed Platform) Proprietary synthetic metallosulfur molecule separation platform licensed to e-waste recyclers for recovering rare earth elements from magnets, LCD screens, and energy-saving lamps, achieving a 10x separation factor vs. incumbent methods under non-toxic, room-temperature, atmospheric-pressure conditions.
- Recovered Rare Earth Elements Recovered rare earth element products sold directly to industrial buyers for use in permanent magnets, electronics, and energy applications as a secondary, lower-carbon alternative to mined supply.
- Custom REE Recycling Process Development Bespoke engineering and process development services adapting the REVOC separation chemistry to client-specific electronic waste feedstocks and plant configurations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Separation factor 10x superior to existing technologies for Eu/Y recovery from lamp phosphors
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Reecover
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Reecover technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Reecover partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Anima (Biomimicry Venture Studio)coreOfficially kicked off 6-month collaboration in November 2025 with Sandra and Florence from Anima visiting ETH labs. Anima is providing intensive business strategy and market traction support worth EUR 15,000 as part of Out of the Lab Award win. Collaboration includes branding work with Aleph Studios.
- NoOPScorePartnership for magnetic waste feedstock supply. Received exciting preliminary results on magnetic waste feedstock from NoOPS in May 2026. Opens promising new front for REEcover's technology application.
- Paprec GroupminorWarm welcome at Paprec Group's recycling site in Sarcelles in December 2025, giving insights into real-world recycling constraints that guide REE recycling solution development.
- BARECminorWarm welcome at BAREC recycling plant in Moudon in August 2025. Collected new samples to test recycling process. Partnership providing real-world waste samples for technology validation.
- PX Group (La Chaux-de-Fonds)minorLearned from pioneers of gold recycling at PX Group in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Leonie had previously completed research stay there. Seeing innovation in action motivates technology development.
- Veolia BLUBOX (Rubigen)minorWelcomed at Veolia BLUBOX site in Rubigen specializing in mechanical recycling of spent lamps. Collected phosphor powder (REE-rich but mercury-contaminated, currently landfilled) for larger scale testing.
- Aleph StudiosminorWorking with Anima and Aleph Studios on full branding refresh for REEcover. 6-month collaboration officially kicked off in December 2025 co-working day in Paris.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Reecover competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mkango Resources: Mkango Resources (with subsidiary HyProMag) develops rare earth recycling and downstream processing, including magnet-to-magnet recycling. Comparable to REEcover in addressing end-of-life magnet REE recovery and European supply chain diversification, though at a more advanced stage with public-market funding.
- Cyclic Materials: Cyclic Materials is a Canadian rare earth recycling company recovering REEs from end-of-life magnets and e-waste. It directly competes with REEcover in the magnetic-waste REE recovery space using hydrometallurgical separation, making it the closest comparable in terms of feedstock and customer profile.
- REEtec: REEtec is a Norwegian company that has industrialized an efficient solvent-extraction-based process for separating high-purity rare earth oxides from various feedstocks. It is a direct functional competitor in REE separation chemistry, though it serves a more downstream processing role than REEcover's recycling-from-waste focus.
- HyProMag: HyProMag is a UK-based rare earth magnet recycling company using the HPMS (Hydrogen Processing of Magnet Scrap) process. It competes with REEcover in recovering REEs (NdFeB) from end-of-life magnets and serves similar recycling partners and OEMs.
- Phoenix Tailings: Phoenix Tailings is a US rare earth and critical metals producer that uses proprietary zero-waste hydrometallurgical processes to recover REEs from mining and industrial waste streams. It is comparable to REEcover as a venture-backed REE separation/recovery technology company targeting non-traditional feedstocks.
Emerging players
- Carester: Carester is a French company developing rare earth recycling from permanent magnets using pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes. It is a regional emerging player in the same European REE recycling space that REEcover targets, with similar policy-tailwind exposure under the EU Critical Raw Material Act.
- Ucore Rare Metals: Ucore Rare Metals is developing its RapidSX separation technology for rare earth and critical metals processing, with focus on North American supply chain diversification. It is an emerging player using an alternative separation technology approach (column-based solvent extraction) targeting similar end-markets and policy tailwinds as REEcover.
- Geomega Resources: Geomega Resources is a Canadian rare earth recycling company developing its ISR (Inductive Separation and Recovery) technology for processing magnet and e-waste feedstocks. It is an emerging player with overlapping feedstock focus and a comparable scale-up story to REEcover.
Broad incumbents
- Lynas Rare Earths: Lynas is the largest non-Chinese producer of separated rare earth materials, operating the Mt Weld mine and Kalgoorlie processing facility in Australia. It is a broad incumbent in REE supply that competes indirectly with REEcover for the same end-customers seeking non-Chinese REE supply, though it sources from mining rather than recycling.
- Solvay (Rhodia rare earths business): Solvay operates the La Rochelle rare earth separation facility in France, one of the few non-Chinese producers of separated rare earth oxides. It is a broad incumbent serving overlapping customers (REE end users in Europe) but specializes in separation from primary feedstock rather than recycling from waste, making it a complementary rather than head-to-head competitor to REEcover.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Reecover social profiles
Digital presenceReecover financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Reecover leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Reecover funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Reecover M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Reecover
What does Reecover do?
Reecover recovers rare earth elements (REEs) from electronic waste streams such as end-of-life magnets, LCD screens, and energy-saving lamps using a proprietary synthetic metallosulfur molecule technology (REVOC). The company licenses its separation platform to recycling operators and sells recovered REEs directly to industrial buyers, leveraging an ETH Zurich-developed chemistry that achieves a 10x improvement in separation factor compared with existing methods.
Is Reecover a public or private company?
Reecover is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Reecover founded?
Reecover was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Reecover based?
Reecover is headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland, in the Europe region.
How does Reecover make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Technology Licensing is the primary driver. The others are recovered Rare Earth Elements and process Development Services.
Who are Reecover's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mkango Resources, Cyclic Materials, REEtec, HyProMag and Phoenix Tailings. Emerging players are Carester, Ucore Rare Metals and Geomega Resources. Broad incumbents are Lynas Rare Earths and Solvay (Rhodia rare earths business).
Does Reecover have an API?
No public API is recorded for Reecover.
What industry is Reecover in?
Reecover's product category is Rare Earth Recycling. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUAIAIAD, Precious & Specialty Metal Recovery (Smelting, Refining, Hydrometallurgy). Its NAICS code is 56292 and its SIC code is 3341.