British battery pioneer Britishvolt has teamed up with mining firm Glencore to build a recycling plant in the UK to discharge and dismantle lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars.
Britishvolt recently secured a reported £100 million of government funding as part of a huge £1.7 billion investment to help the firm accelerate plans to manufacture battery cells for electric cars in Northumberland from 2024.
The firm also signed a memorandum of understanding with car manufacturer, Lotus, to supply them with batteries for their upcoming electric sports car.
The new recycling plant will be based at Britannia Refined Metals (BRM), which is owned by Glencore, in Northfleet.
Britshvolt and Glencore are aiming to open the facility by 2023, and expect to recycle a minimum of 10,000 lithium-ion batteries each year. In the longer term, they are aimining to power the plant with 100% renewable energy.
The partnership also aims to learn how to make the recycling of EV batteries easier and more cost effective.
According to battery research organisation, Faraday, there are no substantial recycling facilities in the UK, meaning many UK manufacturers face having to export used batteries to Europe to be recycled.
Data from Greenpeace suggests that around 12.85 million tons of EV lithium-ion batteries will be discarded between 2021 and 2030.
“Recycling is key to a successful energy transition and has always been a major part of Britishvolt business model,” said Timon Orlob, global chief operating officer for Britishvolt.
“This joint venture will help us both to create a truly sustainable battery value-chain, create jobs and develop new battery recycling technologies.”
David Brocas, head cobalt trader at Glencore said, “We believe the opportunity to utilise BRM’s operations as a cutting-edge battery recycling facility will help support the development of a UK battery recycling industry.”
Several companies, including car firms, are developing battery recycling operations. They will allow for the minerals contained within the batteries to be recycled for use in future batteries, potentially helping to reduce the demand, and therefore production impact, of new materials.
READ MORE
e-CARS
The ten best-selling electric cars in the UK
e-BIKES
Cairn Cycles E-Adventure 1.0 e-bike review
Ten e-bikes we’re looking forward to in 2022
e-MOTORBIKES
Ten electric motorbikes to look forward to in 2022
Art, sustainability and choppers - the wonderful world of Stirling Eco
e-SCOOTERS
Hypercar firm Bugatti's first electric vehicle is an 18mph e-scooter
Ride-hailing firm Bolt set for UK expansion after big investment
e-WORLD
Veolia to open first UK plant for recycling EV batteries
The new Bobcat T7X is a truly groundbreaking electric digger