Establishing feasibility for safe, sustainable transportation of end-of-life EV batteries for recycling to Cathode Active material and reuse in a battery supply chain.

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As the second largest market for EVs in Europe and with the sale of new petrol and diesel cars banned from 2030, the UK is at the forefront of the transition to an electrified transport sector.However, with growing demand for the critical raw materials required for the production of EV batteries and concerns over global supply chains, an industrial scale battery recycling industry is urgently needed to help secure a stable and sustainable domestic supply of these materials.The UK is dependent on the global market for these raw materials, which presents a number of challenges. International supply chains are complex and vulnerable to disruption from geopolitical events, while environ­mental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are also becoming a growing concern for the EV industry.With this challenge comes an opportunity -- to build a sustainable and stable supply chain by developing a circular economy for critical battery minerals here in the UK.Altilium Metals is the only company in the UK recovering critical minerals from end-of-life EV battery waste. These valuable materials are recovered in a quality and format that can be directly reused in battery manufacturing in the most environmentally friendly and cost-effective way. Unlike existing pyrometallurgical processes, it can recover the lithium and manganese.Altilium's first UK plant is expected to be operational in Teesside by 2026, with the capacity to process 50,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of lithium-ion battery black mass, equivalent to approximately 150,000 EVs per year or 10 GWh/annum. This strategic waste will be processed to make 30,000 tpa cathode active metals (CAM) to be recovered and supplied back into a UK EV automotive supply chain.This feasibility study will see the company partner with Lunaz, the UK's fastest growing vehicle electrification and upcycling business, to develop an innovative and sustainable solution for the transportation and discharging of end-of-life EV batteries, prior to recycling at the Teesside plant.Lunaz has developed a process and technology to upcycle and electrify specialist industrial fleet vehicles to factory new standard and convert them to their proprietary electric powertrain. Every up-cycled electric vehicle produced by Lunaz saves 82% of the embedded carbon within that vehicle.The EOL battery transportation solution developed under the study will increase the sustainability of Altilium's recycling business, by ensuring that batteries are transported to our recycling facility with the lowest environmental impact and maximum social benefit, in addition to being economically efficient.