Critical CleanTech

Innovative Technology for Cleaning and Reuse of High-Value Process Materials

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Our Solution

The Problem
High-Cost, Linear Manufacturing
Prohibitively Expensive Materials
Reagents, solvents & biological inputs carry high per-unit costs that scale poorly across production runs.
Limited Use & Non-Recoverable
Materials are discarded after one use — generating hazardous waste streams and compounding operational costs.
Linear Take–Make–Dispose Model
No feedback loops — value is extracted once, then lost. Unsustainable at scale and misaligned with net-zero targets.
Our Solution
The Solution
Circular, Resource-Efficient Production
Closed-Loop Material Recovery
Key inputs are recovered, purified and re-introduced into the process — dramatically reducing per-cycle cost.
Near-Zero Waste Output
Waste streams are minimised by design — eliminating hazardous disposal costs and reducing environmental liability.
Dramatically Lower Costs
Circularity converts a fixed material cost into a recoverable asset — compressing COGS and improving margins at scale.
The Circular Manufacturing Cycle
Drug Synthesis
Active ingredient production
Material Separation
Isolate recoverable inputs
Purification
Restore input quality
Re-introduction
Feed back into process

There is an extensive cost to manufacturing drugs in the pharmaceutical sector due to reliance on expensive materials that cannot be re-used easily. We have developed a novel way to clean high-value materials used extensively in the manufacturing of biological medicines using supercritical carbon dioxide.

We are able to inject circularity into drug manufacturing, which dramatically cuts costs and eliminates waste. Current cleaning of these materials takes place in chemical solutions, which need controlled disposal. Our method will eliminate waste from cleaning, enhancing sustainability.

Our enhanced cleaning regimen will lengthen the lifetime of high value materials used in medicine manufacturing and allow the same batch of material to be used in the manufacture of different drugs.

This will dramatically cut operating costs as the need to constantly purchase fresh materials will be reduced. Environmental impact of drug manufacturing will also be cut as waste from the cleaning process is eliminated.

Critical CleanTech

Who Is This Technology For?

Our circular manufacturing platform is designed to serve a broad range of organisations across pharmaceutical research, production and beyond.

Large Pharma Companies
Small & Medium Pharma Companies
Contract Development & Manufacturing Orgs (CDMOs)
Contract Research Organisations (CROs)
Academia
Emerging Application
Food Sector — Decontamination Applications

Who are we?

Critical CleanTech is a project emerging from University of Nottingham currently taking part in the Innovate UK ICURe Discover Programme.

Dr Bradley Hopkins

Entrepreneurial Lead

Dr Alice Brookes

Technology Transfer Office

Prof Jonathan Aylott

Principal Scientific Advisor

Get in touch

We would love your feedback on our technology.

Our technology is ideally suited for Pharma, CDMOs, CROs, Academia and the Food Sector.

Get in touch

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