We have won two grants totalling £1 million for the zero-carbon transportation of end-of-life electric vehicle batteries to battery recycling stations (or spokes) and design of an automated battery recycling facility for black mass processing.

Transporting old EV batteries is challenging and expensive, given their weight and health and safety risks and could contributes 3.5% of life cycle GHG emissions for a recycled battery. Existing diesel freight trucking is also found to contribute 99% of human health damages from particulates. Our approach is transportation of batteries to a facility for recycling that incurs zero environmental impact and reduces carbon in the battery supply chains.

The tsunami wave of battery pack returns from electric vehicles expected later this decade, will requires economically efficient disassembly. This cannot be met through purely manual processing, as is currently happening and needs to be automated. Under these projects we will develop innovative solutions for the automation of battery sorting and discharge for over 150,000 EV batteries per year.

Our “full battery circularity” model will be part of a unique customer offering in the UK with EV battery collection from the final holder, black mass recycling and chemical refining to battery-ready cathode active material (CAM) for reuse in a UK battery materials supply chain. Our planned Teesside plant will be producing over 20% of the UK’s required CAM by 2030, making it one of the largest projects in the region.

We are closing the loop for the UK battery recycling industry, from end-of-life recycling to new battery materials, which is essential to achieve circularity in the supply chain. By adopting innovative technologies and sustainable practices, we aim to supply the lowest carbon and eco-friendly battery materials, reducing mining and giving domestic energy security.