“This is about decarbonising transport, creating a circular supply chain and helping to deliver energy security for the UK.”
Altilium’s EV battery recycling in focus
Altilium was pleased to welcome award-winning motoring broadcaster and transport campaigner Quentin Willson to Devon for an exclusive first look inside its new state-of-the art ACT 2 recycling facility and to hear from the company’s leadership team on its plans to deliver 50% of the UK’s critical battery metals from recycling by 2040.
Powering the energy transition
The scale and pace of the transition to electrification has seen a surge in demand for critical battery metals, such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, placing growing pressure on global supply chains.
In the UK, battery demand is forecast to reach 91 GWh per year by 2030 (according to the Advanced Propulsion Centre), requiring 163KT of CAM per year. Ensuring that the UK has a secure domestic supply chain for these battery materials will be critical to meeting this demand and supporting the net zero transition.
With new EU regulations setting strict targets for recycling efficiencies and mandatory minimum levels for recycled critical metals in new EV batteries, recycling of spent lithium-ion batteries is a certainty. Altilium is working with automotive OEMs to ensure they have the materials needed to comply with these regulations.
Decarbonising EV battery production
While EVs are pivotal in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, automotive manufacturers must also meet the challenge of reducing the environmental impact of battery production for a truly sustainable future. Altilium’s innovative recycling processes provide an answer to this challenge, by delivering the UK’s most sustainable battery materials and dramatically cutting GHG emissions associated with battery manufacturing.
A lifecycle assessment (LCA) carried out by sustainability consulting group Minviro found that NMC532 cathode produced with Altilium’s recycled feedstock could be up to 74% lower in climate change impact compared to primary raw materials from a Chinese supply chain (based on the nickel production route with the highest global warming potential).
The LCA also found that Altilium’s EcoAnode™ process delivers a 77% reduction in GHG emissions for production of anode materials compared to primary production from China.
