As the number of electric vehicles and battery-powered devices increases, the partnership brings together Enva’s nationwide collection infrastructure and extensive relationships with car dealerships, along with Altilium’s expertise in the recycling of old EV batteries and recovery of critical materials, including lithium.

Altilium’s proprietary EcoCathode process converts end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into sustainable battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM) and cathode precursor (pCAM) for direct reuse in new batteries.

Across its 38 sites in Britain & Ireland, Enva deploys latest technologies to recover as many valuable secondary materials as possible from industrial scrap.

Under the agreement, Enva and Altilium will work together to explore initiatives including the safe collection of EV batteries from across the UK for recycling using the EcoCathode process.

Using advanced hydrometallurgical recycling processes, Altilium can recover over 95% of the battery metals, in a format that can be directly reused in the production of new batteries.

The arrangement benefits Altilium by removing the need to set up its own collections, and in supplying relationships with waste producers and automotive OEMs.

The partnership will also provide feed Altilium’s intended Teesside refinery. Coded as ACT 4, Teesside is planned as Britain’s only depot refining lithium ion to battery-ready Cathode Active Materials (CAM), of high enough quality for direct re-use in making new batteries. Teesside will be big enough to recycle batteries from 150,000 EVs every year, producing 30,000 tonnes of CAM, enough to meet 20% of Britain’s expected demand as this decade ends.

Michael Sneath, head of Enva’s batteries division, commented: “Expert handling and storage of this potentially hazardous material is paramount.

“This collaboration will solve an emerging problem for our customers, enhancing the UK’s recycling capabilities and contributing to the circular economy by transforming used batteries into valuable raw materials for new batteries.”

His counterpart at Altilium, Rod Savage responded: “By leveraging Enva’s collection network and our processing expertise, we aim to set a new standard in battery recycling, ensuring maximum recovery of materials and supporting the growth of the EV market in an environmentally responsible way.”

Before the early 2030s, over 100 million EV batteries worldwide are expected to end their working lives.  By recycling Britain’s share within our borders, Altilium & Enva intend that valuable resources remain in the UK supply chain.

Altilium is the UK’s only company in upcycling old EV material to produce high nickel CAM for direct re-use in new powerpacks. Its proprietary EcoCathode process results in a 60% reduction in carbon emissions and 20% lower costs compared to virgin materials.

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At its recycling plant in Devon, Altilium Metals has extracted what battery scientists refer to as Cathode Active Materials from the “black mass” residue in exhausted batteries.

CAM encompasses critical compounds such as nickel, lithium, copper and cobalt.  Altilium firm has delivered its first samples to Imperial College, London, to be analysed under a joint research programme partly funded by the UK government’s Automotive Transformation Fund.

Under the programme, Altilium works with Imperial to compare the electrochemical performance of the recycled materials, benchmarking them against newly manufactured cathodes made from virgin materials.

The compounds will be analysed in coin cells and single layer pouch cells, similar to those powering cars such as the Nissan Leaf.  The object of the exercise is to demonstrate if Altilium Metals’ recycled CAM can lower costs in producing new batteries from recycled materials.

The collaboration is one of 22 projects to receive funding through a competition run last year by the government’s Advanced Propulsion Centre.

Dr. Christian Marston, the firm’s chief technical officer  commented: “Cathode Active Material (CAM) is key to electric vehicle battery performance.  At our battery technology centre we are using advanced materials science to re-engineer and upcycle battery scrap to produce new and relevant cathode active materials, reducing the UK’s dependency on overseas supply chains.”

Dr. Magda Titirici, Imperial’s professor of sustainable energy materials, added: “We are excited to be working with Altilium on the very important issue of creating a circular battery supply chain. Tney’ll make a significant contribution towards achieving the UK’s net zero goals.

“As well as testing the recycled cathode materials, our research team will be working to optimise their performance to the same or even higher levels as cathodes made from virgin metals.”

A spokesperson for the Advanced Propulsion Centre described the link: “As an exciting step forward in the challenge to improve the critical materials supply for the electrification of vehicles. The programme also demonstrates the benefits of sustainable end-oflife battery recycling, reducing the UK’s dependency on overseas supply chains.

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Recycling joint venture Recyclus Group say their Wolverhampton plant is Britain’s first with the capability to recycle li-ion batteries at industrial scale.   Final approval expected within weeks from the EA will see it swing into action straightaway.

48% owned by LSE-quoted Technology Minerals, the Midlands facility is being designed to recycle up to 8,300 tonnes of Li-ion batteries in its first year. Building five more recycling plants in coming years should increase that capacity to approximately 41,500 tonnes annually.

Today’s announcement by the parent confirms the EA’s grant of draft operational permission.  Recyclus have accepted the EA’s variations, and expect the watchdog’s definitive approval later this month.

Following final certification, on-site treatment and processing of spent Li-ion batteries will start immediately, the metal recycler made clear.

London-headquartered Technology Minerals came to market in late 2021 to boost the circular economy in the battery metals sector. The group covers all stages of its minerals’ life cycle, from exploration and mining through to end-of-product recycling for cobalt, lithium, nickel and manganese.   Through subsidiaries, it has interests in exploration projects in Ireland, Spain and the USA.

“Black mass” is battery chemists’ name for the undifferentiated metallic soup lodged in end-of-life storage devices. Technology Minerals cite one research prediction that its global value will surge from $9.2 billion last year to over $50 billion by 2031.

Independently, a Canadian study from 2017 estimated that 11 million tonnes worldwide of spent lithium ion would need to be repurposed over the dozen years to 2030.   Demand from the world’s projected 200 battery gigafactories – 122 of them already in operation, according to Recyclus – will increase demand for recycled metals.

Gate fees from hauliers delivering the residue to the Wolverhampton plant, plus resale of rejuvenated metals, underpin the joint venture’s business plan.

“Receiving the EA’s final approval draft to commence full automated operations at our Li-ion battery recycling plant in Wolverhampton is a landmark moment for Technology Minerals and for the UK”, chair Robin Brundle said.

“We will immediately begin recycling operations once the official certification is issued, which we expect imminently.  With feedstock stored and ready to be processed, everything is in place to kick start operations at the facility and commence generation of cash flow,” Brindle added.

“As the world transitions to electrification and demand for Li-ion batteries increases, we believe (Recyclus gives us) a strong first mover advantage for what is an industrial scale opportunity. We look forward to building long term relationships with businesses and organisations, both in the UK and internationally, which need a solution for their end-of-life batteries.”

In March in partnership with Birmingham University, Technology Minerals received £1.96 million from Innovate UK, the government’s technology nursery, to equip a truck as a mobile facility capable of reprocessing battery metals.

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Watercycle Technologies, a deep tech company focused on furthering high-yield, low-cost, mineral extraction, is pledging its unique technology to magic the battery industry’s most valuable metal from a shaft of super-heated salty water beneath Lazio, near Rome.

Its partner is Energia Minerals (Italia), a subsidiary of quoted Altamin, owner of mines in central Italy. Using the British firm’s propriatory DLEC approach – Direct Lithium Extraction & Crystallisation – , the duo will extract samples from a borehole in Lazio.  In October Altamin won two exploration licences for lithium from the region’s government.

Subsurface strata running from Rome north into Tuscany provide Italy’s bedrock for geothermal brines. Temperatures up to and beyond 200 degrees Centrigrade run at least four geothermal power stations.

With its UK partner Cornish Lithium, Watercycle are already piloting extraction of the valuable metal from brine-filled caves and aquifers under the West Country.

DLEC’s compatibility with a wide range of water salinities delivers, or so Watercycle claims – dramatic reductions in costs, carbon emissions and water consumption compared with current processes

Baggy, chemical, and happy on Mondays

Under the deal Watercycle will test brines extracted from a borehole in central Italy.  Once the waters’ specific chemistry is understood, dedicated membranes will be fabricated by the team.  Watercycle will then pass the brine through its DLEC process, and analyse both the resulting lithium-rich extraction and the lithium-purged residue.

Watercycle will then process the lithium-rich solution to produce lithium carbonate salts. This latter stage it presents as a key differentiator compared to standard extraction practices.

If successful, the two parties will examine the potential for initiating large-scale testing in Italy.

“Each brine has different characteristics”, explained Watercycle CEO Dr Seb Leaper.

“It’s part of our development model to test multiple brines to further prove the efficacy of our technology and provide leading edge, sustainable solutions for lithium and critical mineral extraction from them.

Watercycle’s CTO and co-founder Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim added: ““Our technology has taken years of development both within the University of Manchester and now within Watercycle.

“We are not only successfully partnering with lithium brine developers but also making fantastic headway in the extraction of multiple critical minerals including cobalt and graphite from spent batteries and the utilisation of our processes in desalination, critical in today’s world where water shortages are being becoming more pronounced.

In materials science, Manchester University, home to Alan Turing and early computing, has more recently been world-renowned for graphene. The super-strong lightweight material won the 2010 Nobel Prize for physics for its developers Professors Andre Geim & Kostya Novoselov.

Watercycle’s labs are in the university’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre.

Interest declared: the author was educated partly at Manchester University.

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