With a growing network of strategic relationships in place and a portfolio of best-in-class production solutions, Altilium is building out the foundations for its Urban Mining Ecosystem, ensuring a secure feedstock supply for recycling and chemical refining to battery-ready cathode active materials (CAM) at its UK facilities.

Securing a reliable supply of feedstock for mega-scale battery recycling is a significant challenge in this emerging industry, with larger volumes of end-of-life EV batteries not expected until later this decade. Thanks to its innovative recycling technology and extensive commercial network, Altilium has so far secured 60% of the feedstock required for its ACT 4 EV Battery Recycling Refinery in Teesside, one of the largest recycling projects in Europe.

 

Black Mass Production Solutions

Altilium is developing a portfolio of solutions to produce and acquire black mass for refining in the UK, supplemented by access to sustainable feed supplies from the international market. Together, this will form a key part of the company’s full battery circularity model, a unique customer offering encompassing zero carbon EV battery collection, black mass recycling and production of CAM for reuse in an EV supply chain.

At the heart of this strategy is the Altilium Urban Mine, which will source feedstock for shredding to high-quality black mass from a wide range of sources and lifecycle stages, including end-of-life EV batteries and recalls, accident and insurance write-offs and second life battery energy storage systems, as well as manufacturing scrap from gigafactories.

 

Battery Recycling Stations

Battery scrap sourced through these multiple nodes will be processed by Altilium at its own Battery Recycling Stations (BRS) to produce black mass for downstream refining in the UK. This will include a mega-scale shredding facility in Teesside, with capacity to process over 60kt equivalent of batteries. Designed by Hatch, the plant will process a mix of consumer batteries, EV batteries and gigafactory scrap through its multiphase shredders, delivering high-quality output material on an industrial scale.

With the growing number of end-of-life batteries expected later this decade, scalable and efficient processing solutions will be critical for the UK to establish a sustainable and commercially viable domestic recycling industry, capable of meeting the demands of OEMs and cell manufacturers. Manual dismantling and discharge will not be a viable option for at-scale recycling of hundreds of batteries per day.

 

Battery Recycling at UK Scrap Yards

Altilium will also partner with scrap and salvage yards, automotive insurance companies and waste management companies to operate satellite Battery Recycling Stations across the UK. With increasing numbers of premature end-of-life EV batteries due to automotive accidents, this will ensure these batteries are managed and processed safely, thus helping to minimise the environmental impact of battery recycling in the UK.

Recognising the increasing incidence of fires at UK battery storage and recycling facilities, Altilium’s advanced designs incorporate the latest technologies for the highest safety and environmental standards. This includes full-scope water treatment and gas neutralization to ensure safe and eco-friendly operations.

 

Black Mass Trading and Storage

Supplementing its domestic production activities, Altilium has established a Black Mass Trading Division, leveraging its strong global footprint and the extensive commodities trading experience of its senior management team. With warehouse storage in the UK (Devon), Europe (Rotterdam) and South East Asia (Malaysia), this trading model will enable the company to source black mass and battery scrap from third party suppliers for processing in the UK. Managing the supply chain through the trading division will also provide improved visibility of global supply and demand and give Altilium the ability to manage battery metals price exposure risk.

 

Refining of Primary and Recycled Battery Metals

Altilium’s planned Teesside refinery will have capacity to process 50,000 tonnes a year of black mass. This will include a mix of giga-scrap and recycled battery metals, along with other materials and metal streams. By combing primary raw materials with as much recycled content as feasible, the facility will be able to manage potential imbalances of quality and quantity in scrap feedstocks in the early days of at-scale battery recycling.

Using Altilium’s EcoCathode™ technology, the refinery will recover the critical battery minerals, including lithium, to produce 30,000 tonnes of low-carbon CAM a year, enough to meet 20% of UK demand by 2030. By recycling to CAM, Altilium will ensure that valuable resources are kept in the UK battery supply chain, reducing the country’s reliance on imported materials and supporting automotive OEMs in their transition to zero emission vehicles.