Bio mining employs microbes which can oxidise metal as part of their metabolism. It has been widely used in the mining industry, where microorganisms are used to extract valuable metals from ores.

Urban mining recovers critical metals from electronic waste and end-of-life EV batteries.

Under a UK Government SMART Innovation Grant, we have commenced work on implementing green biological approaches alongside our existing recycling technologies enabling the selective separation of metals such a lithium, nickel and cobalt from old EV batteries. Combining advances in our hydromet processing in combination with bioleach processing, may serve to considerably lessen the use of chemicals.

Our moonshot is to be the most sustainable and eco-friendly cathode active material (CAM) producer globally by recycling EV battery scrap and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of electric vehicles.

UK battery recycling technical leadership is a result of our strong investment in R&D at our Devon Technology Centre where we are at the forefront of pushing CAM innovation, offering +95 % recovery rates in recycling cathode metals with minimal environmental impact and favourable process economics.

Altilium is a UK Clean Tech group supporting the shift of the global energy sector from fossil-based to zero-carbon. Our vision is that the technology metals needed for battery anodes and cathodes will come from recycling existing waste streams, such as lithium scrap and mine tailings, decarbonising the automotive supply chain for a sustainable transport future.