Aspiring Materials wants to decarbonise the world by turning waste rock into economic gold
Aspiring Materials is attacking the problem of industrial emissions at its almost literal bedrock
Ara Ake is New Zealand’s Future Energy Centre, with a mission to drive impactful change by supporting energy innovators through commercialisation support.
Our partnership with Aspiring Materials reflects this commitment, helping to create value from industrial bioproducts and tackle the pressing decarbonisation challenges of our time.
By supporting Aspiring Materials, Ara Ake showcases how New Zealand innovation is delivering real solutions to global challenges.
Aspiring Materials is paving the way for transformational change in how we handle mining waste, turning it into valuable outputs which can underpin sustainable industrial practices, unlock further green innovation and help New Zealand strengthen its reputation as a cleantech leader.
What if a waste rock scattered across mine sites globally held the key to massive carbon reductions, green hydrogen generation, and more sustainable construction?
That’s the bet Christchurch-based cleantech startup Aspiring Materials is making and so far, they’re proving it might just work.
With an appropriately aspirational mission to ‘help decarbonize the world,’ Aspiring Materials is attacking the problem of industrial emissions at its almost literal bedrock.
The company’s unique process builds a circular system that turns discarded geological byproducts into usable, valuable materials.
“We’re making critical materials with no carbon,” Megan Danczyk, Aspiring’s Lead Chemical Process Engineer, told Caffeine. “These are materials used in huge quantities across the globe, and we’re replacing traditionally high-emissions versions with carbon-free alternatives.”
Industrial processes are among the largest contributors to global carbon emissions. Cement alone is responsible for roughly 8% of global CO₂ emissions, thanks to both the energy it consumes and the chemical processes involved in its production.
Magnesium compounds, widely used across industries, are also typically produced through carbon-intensive methods that release multiple tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of material created.
These emissions are baked into the foundations of how we build and power everything from cities to batteries. Aspiring Materials believes it can change that.
Its process begins with something the world has in abundance: magnesium silicate rock, often considered worthless overburden on mine sites. The startup has found a way to completely break this rock down and turn 100% of it into useful products without creating any new waste.
Most mineral extraction techniques target a small slice of valuable material and discard the rest, often with toxic or carbon-heavy leftovers. Aspiring does the opposite.
“We use the whole rock,” Danczyk explains. “We completely break it apart and turn it into usable products, like magnesium hydroxide and green hydrogen, without producing waste. And we do it all at low temperature and low pressure, which means we can do it carbon-free.”
The process begins with minimal energy milling of the rock, followed by a acid treatment. At the tail end is a custom electrolyzer that regenerates the acid and base used in the process while generating green hydrogen as a byproduct.
That hydrogen isn’t a side note but a genuine commercial opportunity. The global market for Green Hydrogen is expected to grow significantly in the next decade, reaching $62 billion by 2033.
Aspiring’s technology has already been tested over 2,000 continuous hours in their electrolyzer, and their pilot plant in Christchurch is now fully operational, capable of processing 250 kilograms of feedstock a day.
Each of Aspiring’s other core products also targets a high-demand, low-sustainability industry:
Reactive silica: Can replace up to 30% of cement binder, directly lowering the emissions of one of the world’s most-used materials.
Magnesium hydroxide: Typically produced through high-emission processes. Aspiring’s version is carbon-free and can also be used for carbon capture.
Nickel-cobalt-manganese hydroxide: high value critical minerals that are crucial to electrification yet currently produce about 18 million tonnes of CO2 per tonne of material and often through unethical mining practices.
Magnesium carbonate: The result of capturing CO₂ with their magnesium hydroxide, permanently storing the carbon in a verifiable form.
“We’re able to tap into a lot of different markets,” says Danczyk. “Which means there’s a huge financial incentive, and a global expansion opportunity.”
Aspiring’s headquarters in Christchurch isn’t just a matter of geography but a strategic choice.
“New Zealand, and especially the South Island, is a perfect match for us,” Danczyk says. “We need access to renewables to keep our process carbon-free. And NZ’s grid is already one of the cleanest in the world.”
The country’s energy mix, rich in hydro and geothermal, means Aspiring’s low-energy process doesn’t just emit less but starts green and stays green. They’ve tested three local sources of magnesium silicate rock, all of which work well in their process. And with end-users already expressing interest from within New Zealand’s industrial sectors, a domestic growth path is clear.
Aspiring is currently raising an $8 million USD round to scale their pilot plant to a continuous state and progress plans for their first commercial facility. With their core process now proven and stable, the team is focused on optimization and preparing for their next major scale-up.
They’re not looking to edge out other cleantech players, either. The team sees their work as a complementary layer to other climate innovations.
“There’s room for all of us. We can tag team with other startups in New Zealand,” Danczyk adds.
By working with the materials other industries leave behind, and turning them into critical inputs across multiple sectors, it feels like the kind of upstream innovation which could unlock many others.
Aspiring Materials doesn’t just offer another tool in the decarbonization toolbox. It’s the kind of moonshot cleantech startup New Zealand is uniquely positioned to support and one that could soon be playing a global role in the fight against climate change.