This start-up turns industrial wastewater into a source of valuable raw materials

Finnish start-up Weeefiner is helping reshape the mining industry by transforming wastewater into a valuable resource. Using its 4D Scavenger technology, the company recovers dissolved metals from industrial water, allowing them to be reused or recycled.

Each Weeefiner system fits inside a standard shipping container, making it easy to transport and deploy. The filters are chemically active and reusable, and can be tailored to extract specific metals from wastewater streams.

Weeefiner says it can recover up to 100 percent of dissolved materials at half the cost of traditional water treatment methods. This reduces both water pollution and the need to extract new primary resources.

Industry, including mining, uses nearly 20 percent of the world’s freshwater. After use, this water often contains residual metals that can harm ecosystems and human health, even in low concentrations.

Weeefiner is a winner of UpLink’s Sustainable Mining Challenge, supported by Prospect Innovation and the World Economic Forum. Its technology supports the energy transition by enabling cleaner, more efficient sourcing of critical minerals.

Watch the video to see how smart water treatment can help make mining more sustainable.