Megan O’Connor founded Nth Cycle in 2017 to address two problems: a growing volume of electronic waste, and a limited domestic supply of critical minerals needed for the energy transition. Fast forward to 2024, and her company has become the first in the United States to extract nickel and cobalt on a commercial scale from scrap and refine it to be used in clean technologies. Nth Cycle’s modular system, called The Oyster, can be added on to existing recycling facilities and manufacturing plants, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to traditional mineral mining.