29th July, 2026 – Altilium, a UK-based clean technology company focused on sustainable recovery of critical battery materials, has today announced that it has been granted its first patent covering its core EcoCathode EV battery recycling process, marking a significant milestone in the commercialisation of the company’s advanced technology and the scale-up of domestic battery materials production. 

The UK Intellectual Property Office has granted UK Patent No. GB2637908B, entitled “Material Recovery Method and Use”, protecting Altilium’s innovative hydrometallurgical process for recovering, purifying and regenerating high-value cathode materials from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. The process converts “black mass” into high-purity battery-grade materials suitable for the manufacture of new EV batteries, ensuring critical minerals are returned directly into the UK’s battery supply chain. 

The patent strengthens the company’s intellectual property strategy and forms the foundation of a broader international patent portfolio, with corresponding patent applications progressing in major global jurisdictions. Together, these patents will protect Altilium’s proprietary technologies as the company expands its commercial operations in the UK and explores international licensing opportunities. 

Unlike conventional recycling routes that often produce intermediate products requiring further refining overseas, Altilium’s patented process directly recovers and regenerates battery-grade cathode materials within a closed-loop system. This significantly reduces energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on imported critical minerals. 

The process has already been proven at industrially representative scale through collaborative R&D projects with leading automotive OEMs, with the support of the Advanced Propulsion Centre. Independent validation by Imperial College London has confirmed that Altilium’s recycled materials deliver performance comparable with virgin mined materials, demonstrating their suitability for next-generation battery production. 

Dr Christian Marston, Co-Founder and COO of Altilium, commented: “This patent represents a significant milestone for Altilium and validates years of research and development into creating a truly circular supply chain for battery materials. Intellectual property is fundamental to our strategy as we scale our technology from pilot operations to commercial production. 

Our process enables critical battery metals to be recovered and regenerated into battery-grade materials with dramatically lower carbon emissions than traditional mining and refining. This is exactly the type of innovation needed to build a resilient and sustainable battery supply chain for the UK.” 

The patent forms part of Altilium’s growing portfolio of proprietary technologies spanning the recovery and regeneration of cathode active materials (CAM), anode active materials (AAM) and other critical materials. Together, these technologies underpin the commercial deployment of the company’s recycling facilities, including its ACT3 commercial plant in Plymouth and future large-scale battery materials production at ACT 4, while creating opportunities for future licensing, strategic partnerships and international expansion  

Demand for sustainable battery materials is expected to accelerate rapidly as EV adoption continues to grow and new EU regulations requiring increasing levels of recycled content in battery manufacturing come into effect. Altilium’s patented technology enables these strategically important minerals to remain in circulation, strengthening supply chain security, supporting UK manufacturing and reinforcing the country’s position within the global battery value chain. 

About Altilium 

Altilium is a UK-based clean tech group that is reshaping the UK and European automotive supply chain by offering high volume, low carbon domestic sources of cathode and anode materials from recycling waste streams already in circulation, such as end-of-life batteries. 

The company’s proprietary EcoCathode™ and EcoAnode™ processes convert end-of-life EV batteries and manufacturing scrap into domestic, sustainable, battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM), cathode precursor (pCAM) and anode active material (AAM), for direct reuse in new batteries. 

Altilium’s first pilot plant commenced operations in Plymouth in 2025 while its planned Teesside plant will be one of the largest EV battery recycling facilities in Europe. The plant will have the capacity to process scrap from over 150,000 EVs per year, producing 30,000 MT of CAM, enough to meet around 20% of the UK’s expected needs by 2030. 

The company is backed by SQM Lithium Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the lithium business of Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM), Japanese trading and investment group Marubeni Corporation and Mizuho Bank. 

For more information go to www.altilium.tech 

For media inquiries contact Dominic Schreiber, head of communications: 

dominic@altilium.tech