Tusaar was established in 2009 to commercialize a metal sequestering technology developed at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The development and research has been funded by the US National Science Foundation and the US Department of Energy.

Most industrial and environmental waste streams contain more than a limited number of polluting metals that need to be effectively removed before the water can be safely discharged. The vast majority of current media based technologies target a limited number of metals and operate under strict conditions. Other separation technologies need complex systems to operate and are sensitive to various contaminants regularly found in these waters.

The Tusaar technology involves the surface treatment and impregnation of granulated activated carbon with environmentally friendly organic compounds. It works in an acidic environment, targets over 40 different metals, requires minimal pre-treatment and is simple to use. In most applications the metals sequestered can be recovered if necessary although preliminary testing shows that metal saturated media also passes EPA mandated TCLP tests.

The technology has one issued patent and two pending. It will find application in treating industrial waste and process streams, recovering/recycling rare earth & precious metals and the sequestering of actinides.

The technology offers significant advantages in its ease of application, cost and wide applicability.