Work Packages

ELEMENTAL brings together cutting-edge engineering biology to reinvent how metals are extracted, recovered, sensed and remediated.

Across six work packages, the Hub develops sustainable technologies that reduce environmental harm, close material loops and strengthen the UK’s circular economy. WP1 and WP2 create advanced microbial systems for metal leaching and recovery; WP3 enhances metal efficiency in industrial biotechnology; WP4 delivers fast, sensitive biosensors; WP5 engineers resilient plant and microbial systems for remediation and phytomining; and WP6 ensures scalability, economic viability and circular-economy integration. Together, these programmes form a coherent pipeline that converts scientific innovation into practical solutions, helping the UK move toward a resilient, low-waste circular economy for metals.

Across six coordinated work packages, the Hub spans the full metal lifecycle- from solubilisation and biorecovery to biosensing, bioremediation and industrial implementation.

WP1- Engineering Biology for Improved Bioleaching

Led by the Natural History Museum

Challenge: Traditional metal extraction is energy-intensive and environmentally damaging. Sustainable alternatives are needed to extract metals from ores, industrial waste and electronic waste.

Approach: WP1 uses synthetic biology, TraDIS-Xpress genomic screening and bioprocess engineering to create next-generation microbial systems for enhanced bioleaching. The team engineers acidophilic and cyanogenic bacteria and assembles robust microbial consortia capable of efficient metal solubilisation.

Key Activities:

Engineering acidophiles for enhanced leaching: Mapping acid/metal tolerance genes in Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and engineering microbial consortia (Leptospirillum, Acidithiobacillus spp., Ferroplasma, engineered Pseudomonas).
Bioprocessing metallurgical wastes: Deploying engineered strains in bioreactors to recover Co, Cu, Ni and more, optimising pH, temperature and solids loading.
E-waste bioprocessing: Applying engineered acidophiles and cyanogenic bacteria to extract REEs, precious metals and base metals from magnets, PCBs and batteries.

Impact: Delivers bioengineered leaching systems that recover high-value metals from complex waste streams, reducing dependence on primary mining.

WP2- Engineering Biology for Improved Biorecovery

Led by The University of Manchester

Challenge: Valuable metals in waste often remain unrecovered using conventional technologies.

Approach: WP2 engineers microbes to precipitate, reduce, biosorb and mineralise metals, creating scalable biorecovery platforms. Using Shewanella oneidensis and other metal-processing strains, TraDIS-Xpress identifies pathways for enhanced resistance, uptake and nanoparticle formation.

Key Activities:

Bioreduction of metals: Engineering S. oneidensis to reduce and precipitate Au, Cu and other metals, generating functional nanoparticles.
Selective binding & biomineralisation: Using sulfate-reducing bacteria and engineered strains to capture Co, REEs and other difficult-to-recover metals.
Applications of biogenic nanoparticles: Evaluating biosynthesised Cu nanoparticles for industrial use (e.g., preventing tree-root ingress in water pipes).

Impact: Enables circular reuse of metals and generation of value-added nanomaterials.

WP3- Engineering for Improved Metalation in Industrial Biotechnology

Led by the University of Kent and Quadram Institute

Challenge: Industrial fermentations in microbial and mammalian systems depend on trace metals but waste significant quantities, increasing costs and environmental impact.

Approach: WP3 engineers cell systems that manage metals more efficiently, improving productivity while reducing metal inputs.

Key Activities:

Cobalt optimisation in vitamin B12 production: Engineering E. coli to incorporate >90% of supplied cobalt during B12 biosynthesis.
Reducing metal supplementation in CHO bioprocessing: Engineering metal transporters and buffering proteins in CHO cells to maintain productivity with reduced trace-metal media.

Impact: Minimises metal waste in industrial biotechnology, improving economic and environmental sustainability.

WP4- Biosensors for Metal and Metalloid Detection

Led by University College London and Durham University

Challenge: Effective metal recovery and environmental monitoring require rapid, sensitive and adaptable detection systems.

Approach: WP4 develops whole-cell and protein-based biosensors that detect metals in complex waste streams and industrial processes.

Key Activities:

Whole-cell biosensing: Engineering bacteria with metal-responsive transcription factors to produce fluorescent, real-time readouts of intracellular metal abundance.
Protein and enzyme-based sensors: Designing metal-binding and redox-active proteins (using tools such as AlphaFold2) for multiplexed metal detection, including arsenic and antimony.

Impact: Provides modular, deployable sensing technologies for process control, contamination management and environmental monitoring.

WP5- Engineering Biology for Bioremediation

Led by University of York

Challenge: Metal contamination threatens ecosystems, human health and food security, while cleanup remains costly and disruptive.

Approach: WP5 integrates plant and microbial engineering to enhance metal solubilisation, uptake, immobilisation and radionuclide management.

Key Activities:

Metal solubilisation in the rhizosphere: Engineering plants to generate controlled cyanide for selective solubilisation of Au, PGMs and Ni.
In planta metal-binding peptides & ferritins: Producing peptides and redesigned ferritins that bind, reduce and accumulate metals (Au, Ni, REEs).
Hyperaccumulator development: Transferring Ni and REE hyperaccumulation traits into deployable plant species.
Radionuclide remediation: Engineering plants and microbes to uptake or immobilise Cs, Sr, U, Tc and Np.

Impact: Creates sustainable bioremediation and phytomining strategies that restore contaminated environments while generating valuable metal products.

WP6- Practical Implementation for a Circular Economy

Led by University College London

Challenge: To achieve real-world impact, biotechnologies must be economically viable, scalable and integrated within industrial supply chains.

Approach: WP6 links scientific innovation to industry, policy and sustainability assessment through comprehensive RRI (Responsible Research and Innovation) practices.

Key Activities:

Material Flow Analysis: Mapping where target metals reside across UK waste streams.
Circular economy strategy development: Co-creating process flows and supply-chain models with stakeholders.
Innovative bioprocess scale-up: Developing modular reactors, co-immobilised microbial communities and automated systems.
TEA & LCA: Conducting full techno-economic and life-cycle assessments for environmental and financial viability.

Impact: Provides the roadmap and tools required for deployment of ELEMENTAL technologies at industrial scale.

Overall Impact

ELEMENTAL unites leading researchers across the UK to engineer sustainable systems for metal extraction, recovery, sensing and remediation. Through innovation and collaboration, the Hub will help transform waste into resources, reduce environmental harm and power a more resilient circular economy.