Waste reduction

Mercuria’s office environmental policies are designed to minimise impact through practical, measurable actions. These policies guide procurement decisions, office design and day-to-day operations, ensuring that environmental considerations are integrated into how we work.

Initiatives such as reusable water bottles, reduced reliance on single-use plastics and a continued shift towards digital processes have contributed to a significant reduction in office waste. These efforts are supported by comprehensive recycling programmes across all locations.

In many offices, multi-stage recycling systems are implemented to sort and recover materials such as aluminium, steel, glass, plastics and paper. Materials that are not suitable for recycling are separated to ensure that recovery processes remain efficient and effective. Through these measures, we aim to reduce waste while promoting responsible behaviour across our global workforce.

Mercuria’s Biofuels Brunsbüttel facility demonstrates how industrial processes can transform waste into valuable resources.

While capable of processing a range of feedstocks, the facility operates primarily using used cooking oil (UCO), converting it into biodiesel. This approach diverts waste from landfills and waterways while producing a lower-carbon energy product that can be used within existing energy systems.

By combining environmental benefit with commercial viability, Brunsbüttel illustrates how circular approaches can support both resource efficiency and energy production. It demonstrates that waste streams, when properly managed, can become valuable inputs within the energy system.

N+P is a pioneer in the production of alternative fuels derived from non-recyclable waste. Through its technologies and processes, materials such as paper and plastic waste—typically destined for landfill or incineration—are converted into valuable fuel products for industrial use.

By using these waste streams as feedstock, N+P enables energy-intensive industries to substitute fossil fuels with lower-carbon alternatives. These fuels can, in some applications, replace a significant proportion of traditional fuels such as coal, supporting both cost efficiency and emissions reduction.

This approach delivers multiple benefits across the value chain. It diverts waste from landfill, reduces reliance on primary fossil fuels and supports industries in lowering their carbon footprint. In some cases, each tonne of fossil fuel replaced can result in substantial CO₂ savings, while also providing a commercially competitive energy source.

N+P’s solutions are designed to integrate with existing industrial processes, including cement, lime, steel and power generation. Its alternative fuels can often be used with limited modification to existing infrastructure, enabling practical and scalable implementation.

Mercuria’s investment in N+P supports the development and scaling of these solutions, contributing to more circular supply chains where waste materials are transformed into valuable inputs for energy and industrial production.

Nth Cycle is a technology company focused on recovering critical metals from waste streams and industrial by-products, enabling a more circular and resilient supply chain for materials essential to modern energy systems.

At the core of its solution is a patented electro-extraction process, which replaces traditional high-emission refining methods with an electricity-based system. This technology can recover metals such as nickel, cobalt, lithium and copper from sources including electronic waste, battery scrap and low-grade ores, producing high-purity materials suitable for reuse in manufacturing.

Unlike conventional refining, which is often centralised, energy-intensive and reliant on hazardous chemicals, Nth Cycle’s modular “Oyster” system can be deployed directly at recycling centres, mining sites or industrial facilities. This reduces transportation requirements, lowers emissions and enables localised processing of materials.

This approach supports the development of circular supply chains by keeping valuable materials in use and reducing dependence on primary extraction and global refining bottlenecks. It also addresses a key structural challenge in the energy transition: ensuring secure and sustainable access to critical minerals required for batteries, energy storage and clean technologies.

Nth Cycle’s technology is designed to be scalable and adaptable across different feedstocks and industries, allowing it to process a wide range of materials while maintaining efficiency and cost competitiveness. By enabling on-site, lower-emission refining, it offers a practical alternative to traditional processes that are often constrained by scale, cost and environmental impact.

Mercuria’s partnership with Nth Cycle supports the development and deployment of these technologies, contributing to more efficient resource use, reduced waste and stronger, more resilient supply chains for critical materials.