In northern Albania, an emerging start-up is scaling the cultivation of hyperaccumulator plants—species that naturally absorb unusually high concentrations of metals from the soil. Metalplant is currently growing these plants across 7 hectares, with the objective of extracting and refining battery-grade nickel from the harvested biomass. To further improve the environmental footprint of the process, the company is combining phytomining with enhanced rock weathering, a technique that accelerates natural mineral reactions to permanently capture atmospheric CO₂. The result is a novel approach to nickel production that aims to be not only low-impact, but carbon negative.
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