Establishing feasibility of an EV battery recycling plant to recover cathode active material for re-entry into a UK battery supply chain

The UK is at the forefront of the transition to an electrified transport sector. However, this transition is dependent on the global market for battery raw materials, with China responsible for the refining of 60-70% of lithium and cobalt found in batteries. Such concentration presents a risk to security of supply, while sustainability factors are also becoming a growing concern for the EV industry.

Altilium have developed a hydrometallurgical process that extracts nickel, cobalt, and lithium from end-of-life electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries in a quality and format that can be directly reused in battery manufacture. This process has been independently validated by the University of Plymouth and the technology has been further developed in our research and development centre (ACT1) in Devon. We are scaling up to our mini-commercial plant in H2 2024 in Devon.

This feasibility study will accelerate and support the investment decision regarding Altilium developing a new UK greenfield site capable of processing 150,000 end-of-life lithium-ion batteries, gigafactory scrap and electronic waste, enabling 30,000tpa of cathode active materials to be recovered and supplied back into the EV battery industry by 2028\.

Critically, our facilities will help attract battery manufacturers to the UK, supporting the UK automotive industry.

Furthermore, an EV battery recycling industry in the UK would lower the cost of EV battery production and could decrease carbon emissions by over 60% compared to the use of virgin cathode materials.