Clean tech firm Altilium has announced that construction has started on the UK’s first at-scale EV battery recycling facility with integrated chemical refining capabilities.
Currently the UK is dependent on the international market for supply of battery materials. With growing demand from the battery production sector, the UK is expected to need up to 40% of current global lithium production and up 30% of current global graphite production by 2030, according to research by the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC).
Located in Plymouth, Devon, Altilium says the new ACT 3 scale-up plant will place the UK at the forefront of sustainable battery materials production and underscores its commitment to building a national battery recycling ecosystem, supporting industrial resilience, energy security and economic growth.
The state-of-the art facility will have capacity to recover critical battery minerals, including lithium, nickel and graphite, from 24,000 EVs per year. Using Altilium’s proprietary EcoCathode™ process, battery scrap will be recycled into Nickel Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP) and Lithium Sulphate – for domestic production of battery cathodes.
The plant will provide important learnings around materials handling, scalability and process optimisation, as well as sustainability and environmental compliance, as part of a clear scale-up pathway for construction of Altilium’s planned ACT 4 mega-scale refinery later this decade.
By developing a circular economy for EV batteries, Altiliium says it is ensuring the UK has a secure and sustainable domestic supply chain for these materials, while reducing the country’s reliance on imported resources and cutting carbon emissions.
Dr Christian Marston, Altilium COO, commented: “Our ACT 3 site marks the next phase in Altilium’s mission to close the loop on battery materials here in Britain. We are proud to be building this scale-up facility here in Plymouth, which will be a cornerstone of the UK’s EV battery supply chain. This is about taking a strategic and incremental approach to scaling a vital new industry, one that ensures value stays in the country and creates long-term skilled green jobs.”
While battery recycling in the UK has to date focused primarily on shredding batteries and black mass production, Altilium says it is pioneering the next step: keeping valuable battery metals like lithium and nickel in the UK through advanced hydrometallurgical refining.
