"Atomic13 is focused on commercialising its ShAPE technology that manufactures high-quality aluminium extrusions from 100% post-consumer scrap, thereby reducing embodied carbon by 80-90%," Eric Donsky, Innovator, Chairman & CEO of Atomic13

Eric Donsky is a serial deep tech entrepreneur, having founded the first industrial synthetic biology and bio-based chemical company, which was spun out of 4 national labs funded by the U.S. DoE, including PNNL. This company went public on the NYSE at a $1B+ valuation. His latest venture, Atomic13, focuses on upcycling aluminium scrap into high-value aluminium extruded parts for the building and construction industry. The DoE has developed a highly novel solid-phase process technology that converts 100% post-consumer aluminium scrap into extruded parts that meet or exceed the ASTM standards on structural specifications for various aluminium alloys, including 6061 and 6063.

AL Circle: Give our readers a brief introduction about yourself and your startup, Atomic13.

Eric Donsky : I am a serial deep tech entrepreneur, having founded the first industrial synthetic biology and bio-based chemical company, which was spun out of 4 national labs funded by the U.S. DoE, including PNNL. This company went public on the NYSE at a $1B+ valuation. I also co-founded one of the earliest lab-on-a-chip diagnostic companies that matured into a $500M NASDAQ-listed company with global revenues.

Atomic13 is focused on commercialising its ShAPE technology that manufactures high-quality aluminium extrusions from 100% post-consumer scrap, thereby reducing embodied carbon by 80-90%. Our commitment to decarbonising aluminium extrusions can, in turn, support our customers' ambitions to decarbonise their products and infrastructure.

AL Circle: What led to the collaboration between Atomic13 and PNNL in commercialising this groundbreaking technology?

Eric Donsky : PNNL and the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) seem focused on decarbonising strategic metals and securing domestic supply chains, as evidenced by DoE’s considerable investments in these initiatives. I am passionate about on-shoring critical manufacturing and reducing dependence on imported metals, such as aluminium. The ShAPE technology developed at PNNL and funded by the DoE squarely serves these mandates. Given these aligned interests and my background in building deep-tech manufacturing companies, we had the basis for a productive partnership.

AL Circle: What is the long-term vision that Atomic13 has for this technology, both in terms of environmental impact and market influence? Or What are the long-term goals of Atomic13 in revolutionising the aluminium extrusion market with sustainable solutions?

Eric Donsky: The longer-term vision of Atomic13 is to develop a portfolio of high-value, scrap-based alloy chemistries that can deliver on performance for customers across multiple industries at a significantly lower carbon footprint. The ShAPE technology allows us to dig deeper into the aluminium scrap streams for unique combinations of scrap sources that result in an array of commercially interesting properties.

AL Circle: How does Atomic13 plan to integrate ShAPE aluminium extrusions into the market, particularly in collaboration with builders and construction firms?

Eric Donsky: Builders and construction companies are under increasing regulatory pressure to decarbonise as new legislation calls for fining companies that don’t reduce their embodied and operating carbon. Moreover, these companies have an additional financial incentive to green their buildings as higher LEED certifications translate into higher asset value.

Atomic13 delivers aluminium shapes or building materials that are made from 100% post-consumer aluminium scrap and have 90% lower embodied carbon than extrusions made from billets comprising 75% industrial scrap and 25% primary aluminium added to dilute down the impurities that are deleterious to the structural and functional properties of extrusions. Our scrap partner uses advanced tools to track scrap from the point of origin to our plant gate so our scrap can be certified post-consumer. This traceability is important to builders and construction companies that get awarded additional LEED points for incorporating building materials made from post-consumer scrap instead of pre-consumer scrap.

AL Circle: How do you envision the future of aluminium recycling and sustainable manufacturing, particularly with the advancements brought by ShAPE? 6. Could you provide an overview of the ShAPE™ technology and its significance in the aluminium recycling industry?

Eric Donsky: ShAPE is an acronym for Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion. ShAPE relies on a rotational tool that imparts shear friction and heat to a billet in order to homogenize its grain structure. ShAPE leverages three distinct mechanisms to rearrange the asymmetric atomic lattice of aluminium scrap, including refining second-phase metallics or impurities into tiny particles that are uniformly dispersed with the aluminium microstructure. This novel capability allows for the extrusion of billets with a high level of impurities and also the upcycling of used beverage cans (UBCs) and twitching scrap into aluminium extrusions with the yield strength of 7000 series aluminium.

AL Circle: How does the ShAPE technology differ from traditional methods of aluminium extrusion, particularly in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency?

Eric Donsky: As mentioned above, ShAPE converts 100% post-consumer scrap into high-quality extrusions, so there is no need to add any primary aluminium to dilute the impurities deleterious to structural and functional properties. ShAPE leverages shear (friction) extrusion to homogenise its billets in a very energy-efficient way. Typical commercial billets undergo energy-intensive thermal treatment to homogenise the grain structure further. Moreover, the heating efficiency associated with friction extrusion is 59% versus 35-38% for convective heating. The shAPE creates compelling opportunities to decarbonise the aluminium extrusion industry.

AL Circle: The removal of primary aluminium and utilisation of 100% aluminium scrap, including Twitch, is mentioned. How does this benefit the manufacturing process? How does ShAPE™ handle low-grade scrap such as Twitch, and what value does it provide to the industrial market? Could you explain the significance of using 100% post-consumer scrap aluminium, including lower-grade variants like Twitch, in the ShAPE process?

Eric Donsky: Commercial billets utilise pre- and post-consumer industrial scrap to reduce carbon footprint. Clean industrial scrap can be expensive and in short supply. Twitch or shred is primarily exported to Asia to produce cast alloys. ShAPE unlocks the possibility of using Twitch to fabricate high-value extruded profiles that meet the structural specifications of a range of aluminium alloys, including 6061 and 6063.