Development of new, innovative technologies for electric vehicle battery recycling & low carbon minerals recovery in the Tees Valley

As the second largest market for EVs in Europe and with the sale of new petrol and diesel cars banned from 2030, the UK is at the forefront of the transition to an electrified transport sector. However, with growing demand for the critical raw materials required for the production of EV batteries and concerns over global supply chains, an industrial scale battery recycling industry is urgently needed in order to help secure a stable and sustainable domestic supply of these materials. The UK is dependent on the global market for these raw materials, which presents a number of challenges. International supply chains are complex and vulnerable to disruption from geopolitical events, while environ mental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are also becoming a growing concern for the EV industry.

With this challenge comes an opportunity---to build a sustainable and stable supply chain by developing a circular economy for critical battery minerals here in the UK. Altilium Metals has developed a hydrometallurgical process for the recycling of EOL lithium-ion batteries and gigafactory scrap. These valuable materials are recovered in a quality and format that can be directly reused in battery manufacturing in the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. Unlike existing pyrometallurgical processes, it can recover the lithium and manganese. The technology and its efficiency performance of over 95% recovery of cathode metals have been independently validated and proven at bench scale.

A first commercial plant is expected to be operational in Teesside by 2026, with the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of lithium-ion battery black mass, equivalent to approximately 150,000 EVs per year or 10 GWh/annum. This strategic waste will be processed to make 30,000 tpa cathode active metals (CAM) to be recovered and supplied back directly into a UK EV automotive supply chain. This recycling project will enhance Teesside's role in the EV supply chain by helping to meet the demand for critical metals needed to support the UK's production of EVs.

Through this partnership with the University of Teesside, Altilium Metals will explore the design of production-scalable, flexible automated battery sorting and deep-discharge systems, to be used in the processing of EOL EV batteries and production of "black mass", prior to refining at the Teesside plant. This will enable the efficient sorting and safe deep discharge of EOL batteries on a commercial scale, capable of handling the growing volume of battery waste in a cost-effective manner.