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LOOPARTS, a startup from Tohoku University, has secured seed funding to advance its UPLOOP technology, which enables high-purity recycling of critical metals like aluminum while significantly reducing energy consumption. Developed by Professor Hongmin Zhu, UPLOOP aims to decrease aluminum production energy use from 162 MJ/kg to between 58 and 80 MJ/kg. The company is progressing from lab-scale demonstrations to the bench-scale α design phase, with plans for industrialization by late 2028.