Anglo American-backed industrial decarbonisation venture PeroCycle has appointed Grant Budge CEO.

This coincides with the opening of a £4-million seed round to fund pilot deployment of PeroCycle’s closed-loop carbon recycling technology for steelmaking and to accelerate commercial growth.

Budge brings 30 years of experience in leading carbon capture projects and advising on decarbonisation in heavy industries, including raising significant public and private funding to deliver large-scale carbon capture and storage infrastructure.

His appointment signals a new phase of commercial growth for PeroCycle as it advances towards pilot-scale deployment. PeroCycle is poised to reshape one of the most emissions-intensive sectors, Budge says, adding that the venture’s technology stands out for its ability to cut carbon emissions from existing steelmaking infrastructure.

PeroCycle is a partnership between Anglo American, the University of Birmingham and Cambridge Future Tech. While the technology was borne from research by professors at the University of Birmingham, Cambridge Future Tech served as an early investor and Anglo American as a driver of novel carbon recycling technology.

PeroCycle uses a perovskite-based catalyst and reactor system to convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into carbon monoxide, providing a closed-loop approach to deep decarbonisation within the steelmaking process.

The steel industry accounts for 8% of global CO₂ emissions, producing more than 3 Gt/y of carbon emissions. This while steelmakers are facing mounting emission reduction pressures.

PeroCycle offers a critical route to low-carbon steel production that is commercially viable, particularly as the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism begins to take shape and impact international competitiveness.

Meanwhile, PeroCycle has garnered £4-million in seed funding that will support the development of a pilot unit, with a targeted capacity of one kiloton of CO₂ processed a year. The company will also expand its technical and commercial team with the funding.

With Budge’s leadership and the momentum of fundraising having been achieved, PeroCycle is well-positioned to deliver real-world industrial impact, says  Cambridge Future Tech co-founder and CEO Owen Thompson.

University of Birmingham chemical engineering chamberlain chair Professor Yulong Ding comments that recycling CO₂ within steelmaking infrastructure presents a scalable pathway to deep decarbonisation in one of the world’s most hard-to-abate sectors.

“Advancing this technology to industrial deployment requires the right leadership and investment – which are now both in place.”

Anglo American marketing CEO Matt Walker says the company remains committed to working with like-minded partners to make meaningful steps towards lower emission steelmaking.

“Our investment in PeroCycle reflects our belief in the potential of carbon recycling for this purpose. We look forward to seeing this next phase of development bring the technology closer to industrial application.”

By enabling in-process carbon recycling at blast furnace-compatible temperatures, PeroCycle’s technology offers a practical route to decarbonisation, addressing a key need in a sector where each tonne of crude steel can emit about 2 t of CO₂ emissions.

With emissions from steelmaking needing to fall within the next decade to align with net-zero pathways, scalable industrial solutions such as that of PeroCycle are critical to the global climate response.