EverMetal launches US-based critical metals recycling platform

[Ben Graham]

A consortium of private equity investors announced Wednesday the launch of EverMetal Holdings LP, one of the world’s first dedicated critical metals recycling platforms to strengthen US domestic access to the strategic metals supply chain.  

Established with the majority backing of GEF Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm focused on pollution mitigation, EverMetal aims to build a viable alternative to purchasing mined minerals by creating an integrated recycling supply chain in the U.S.  

EverMetal has completed its first acquisition of CAI Custom Alloys LLC, a US-based processor of high-performance superalloys, headquartered in Belvidere, Illinois.  

The superalloy market consists of critical metals used in aerospace, power generation, renewable energy and technology and electronics industries. Mining of these superalloys is concentrated in a few specific geographies primarily in Africa and Asia. 

The deal marks the launch of a platform designed to consolidate and expand recycling capacity for a suite of strategic metals—including nickel, cobalt, tungsten, tantalum, rhenium, hafnium, titanium, and niobium—that are essential for aerospace, defense, energy, and high-tech industries. 

Founded in 2009, CAI processes nickel, cobalt, and specialty metal scrap, supporting end markets across aerospace, defense, power generation, medical, and technology. The company is one of a few domestic processors holding vacuum-melt certification from major aerospace customers – a prerequisite for inclusion in critical component manufacturing.  

“CAI’s products play a quiet but vital role in U.S. national security,” EverMetal CEO Hugo Schumann said in a news release. “From jet engines to turbine blades, these recycled metals power mission-critical technologies.  

“Our acquisition of CAI reflects our mission to secure and scale domestic recycling of these materials and reduce dependence on expensive, foreign-controlled sources of strategic materials,” Schumann said.  

With EverMetal’s capital and strategic backing, CAI will accelerate investment in capacity growth, new processing technologies, geographic expansion, and relationships with key defense and aerospace customers, the company said.