Altilium’s mega-scale recycling operations in the UK will provide enough lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese for production of over 250,000 new EV batteries a year – enough to fuel over 80% of all EVs sold in the UK in 2023.

As the world moves from a fossil fuel-based energy system to one powered by minerals, the demand for these critical battery metals is forecast to nearly triple by 2030, leading to concerns over production capacity and placing growing pressure on global supply chains.

Recent analysis by the IEA suggests that announced mining projects are sufficient to meet only 50% of lithium requirements in 2035 in a scenario in which countries worldwide meet their national climate goals.

Furthermore, the production of critical minerals is highly concentrated geographically, leaving the UK vulnerable to disruption from geopolitical events. Most lithium extraction takes place in South America and Australia, for example, while China dominates processing.

By recovering lithium, nickel and cobalt from the recycling of end-of-life batteries, Altilium is creating a secure domestic source of these critical minerals that relieves the pressure on primary supply and reduces the UK’s reliance on countries with poor ESG standards, such as the DRC, which supplies more than 60% of the world’s cobalt.

Altlium’s Teesside plant will have the capacity to process scrap from over 150,000 EVs per year, producing 30,000 MT of cathode active materials (CAM), enough to fuel nearly 20% of the 1.2m EVs forecast to be manufactured in the UK in 2030. As the UK’s only domestic source of low carbon CAM, our recycling and refining facilities will support the electrification of transport, building a circular economy for the critical minerals needed to meet the demands of the energy transition.