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7 September 2023

Directa Plus plc

("Directa Plus", the "Group" or the "Company")

Three-year contract secured with LIBERTY Galati for €5.5m with potential to expand to €8.0m

Setcar secures significant contract to process oily mills sludge in steel production process.

Directa Plus (AIM: DCTA), a leading producer and supplier of graphene nanoplatelets based products for use in consumer and industrial markets, is delighted to announce its environmental services subsidiary, Setcar S.A. ("Setcar"), has secured a three-year contract with LIBERTY Galati, the largest integrated steel producer in Romania, to provide a solution for the treatment of oily mills scale produced in the manufacturing of steel. The waste of rolling production is a mill scale (iron oxides) which is formed on the rolled product; this occurs when billets, heated to almost 1000C, pass through the rolling mill and come into contact with oxygen, oil and coolant water.

During the complete rolling process, about 2.5% of the metal weight of the workpiece is slagged. 

This multi-year contract has a total value of €5.5 million, with the potential for further expansion up to a total value of €8.0 million depending on rolling mills monthly production volume. Setcar's solution offered to LIBERTY Galati further leverages the use of Directa's patented Grafysorber® technology.

The Group's Grafysorber® technology provides a unique method for the removal and recovery of oil compounds from the mill sludge and facilitates the recycling of a waste product that is otherwise extremely difficult to treat. Setcar's unique processing system will enable LIBERTY Galati to convert a significant quantity of oily sludge waste into a raw material that can be re-utilised in its steel production process.

This contract, which was awarded following a public tender process, will enable Setcar to expand further its waste treatment and disposal services for industrial pollutants and broaden the range of applications for the Group's Grafysorber® technology.

Grafysorber® technology is a hybrid graphene-based solution for treating water sludges and emulsions containing hydrocarbons. It is at least five times more effective than current technologies, absorbing more than 100 times its own weight of oil-based pollutants. In addition, Grafysorber® is sustainably produced, non-flammable and reusable, with the adsorbed hydrocarbons recoverable.

Commenting, Giulio Cesareo, Founder and CEO of Directa Plus, said: "We are very proud of this achievement. This is the largest single contract signed by the Group to date equivalent to the 2020 yearly company turnover. Securing a multi-year contract with LIBERTY Galati is a very exciting win and demonstrates the building momentum for the Group's products and solutions. We are targeting a new significant application for Grafysorber® with a very large global potential market.

We look forward to working with LIBERTY Galati and showcasing the compelling advantages of Grafysorber® and Setcar's solution for oily mill scale produced in steel making."

For further information please visit http://www.directa-plus.com/ or contact:

Notes to Editors

Directa Plus (www.directa-plus.com) is one of the largest producers and suppliers of graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets. The Company's graphene manufacturing capability uses proprietary patented technology based on a plasma super expansion process. Starting from natural graphite, each step of Directa Plus' production process - expansion, exfoliation and drying - creates graphene-based materials and hybrid graphene materials ready for a variety of uses and available in various forms such as powder, liquid and paste.

This proprietary production process uses a physical process, rather than a chemical process, to process graphite into pristine graphene nanoplatelets, which enables Directa Plus to offer a sustainable, non-toxic product, without unwanted by-products.

Directa Plus' products are made of hybrid graphene materials and graphene nano-platelets. The products (marketed as G+(R)) have multiple applications due to its properties. These G+(R) products can be categorised into various families, with different products being suitable for specific practical applications.

Directa Plus was established in 2005 and is based in Lomazzo (Como, Italy) and has been listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange since May 2016. Directa Plus holds the Green Economy Mark from London Stock Exchange which recognises companies that contribute to the global green economy.