• 6 min read
• Published on 25 July 2025
Listen to article
6:52Hey! We are Nemo.
Nemo, short for Never Miss Out, is a mobile investment platform that delivers curated, data-driven investment ideas to your fingertips. It offers commission-free trading across stocks, ETFs, crypto, and CFDs, along with AI-powered tools, real-time market alerts, and themed stock collections called Nemes.
Download the App
Scan the QR code to download the Nemo app and start investing on Nemo today
Published on 12 September 2026
Read article
Published on 12 September 2026
Read article
Published on 12 September 2026
Read article
Published on 11 September 2026
Read article
Published on 11 September 2026
Read article
Let's be honest, most of us view our recycling bin with a mixture of civic duty and profound scepticism. We dutifully wash out the yoghurt pots and flatten the cardboard, all while harbouring a quiet suspicion that it probably all ends up in the same landfill anyway. For decades, waste has been a problem to be managed, a cost to be borne, and an unsightly mess to be hidden. But what if that entire assumption is wrong? What if our rubbish isn't a liability, but an asset waiting to be unlocked?
I think we are on the cusp of a quiet but profound revolution. A new breed of company is emerging, one that looks at a mountain of discarded plastic, industrial sludge, or landfill gas and doesn’t see a problem. It sees a raw material. These are the modern alchemists, and their pursuit is turning the world’s trash into tangible, profitable treasure.
The old saying ‘where there’s muck, there’s brass’ has never been more literal. The business model is almost beautifully simple. Traditional waste management costs money. You pay someone to take your rubbish away. These new resource transformation companies, however, have flipped the equation on its head. They take materials that others pay to get rid of, and then apply clever technology to turn them into valuable products they can sell. It’s a rather elegant economic judo move.
Take a company like PureCycle Technologies. They’ve developed a process to take old, mucky polypropylene, one of the most common plastics, and restore it to a virgin-like quality. This is the holy grail of recycling, solving the problem of plastic degrading every time it’s reprocessed. Or look at a broader player like Waste Connections. They operate across the whole spectrum, collecting waste, yes, but also capturing landfill gas to generate electricity and processing recyclables for resale. They squeeze every last drop of value out of what we throw away.
This isn't some niche, feel-good environmental trend. To me, this looks like a fundamental economic shift driven by some very powerful, and very pragmatic, forces. First, you have governments. Politicians are finally waking up to the fact that we can’t keep burying our problems forever. Stricter regulations and disposal taxes are making the old ‘take, make, dispose’ model increasingly expensive.
Then there are the consumers. People are, quite rightly, starting to ask questions about where their products come from and what they’re made of. Big brands have noticed, and they are now scrambling to secure stable supplies of high-quality recycled materials to meet their sustainability pledges. This creates a ready-made market for the output of our modern alchemists. It’s this collection of clever companies, the ones turning muck into money, that makes up an investment theme some are calling The Alchemists.
Of course, this isn't a guaranteed path to riches. Investing always carries risk, and this sector is no exception. The technology can be fiendishly complex, and a process that works perfectly in a lab might face unexpected hurdles when scaled up to handle a city’s worth of rubbish. Regulatory landscapes can change, and the market for recovered materials can be just as volatile as any other commodity market. But the underlying logic, that waste is a vastly underutilised resource, feels incredibly compelling. It suggests that the companies mastering this new form of alchemy could be well-positioned for the future.
View the full Basket:The Alchemists
View the full Basket:The Alchemists
This article is marketing material and should not be construed as investment advice. No information set out in this article be considered, as advice, recommendation, offer, or a solicitation, to buy or sell any financial product, nor is it financial, investment, or trading advice. Any references to specific financial product or investment strategy are for illustrative / educational purposes only and subject to change without notice. It is the investor’s responsibility to evaluate any prospective investment, assess their own financial situation, and seek independent professional advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Please refer to our Risk Disclosure.
Published on 12 September 2026
Read article
Published on 12 September 2026
Read article
Published on 12 September 2026
Read article
Published on 11 September 2026
Read article
Published on 11 September 2026
Read article