As electric vehicle usage expands, the race is on to recycle their batteries and recover scarce materials like lithium, nickel and cobalt, thereby cutting emissions and easing dependence on mining.
A New Phase In the EV Revolution
With global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) topping 14 million in 2023, a 35 per cent increase on the previous year, attention is now turning to what happens when those vehicles reach the end of their life. The answer lies within a growing industry focused on recycling EV batteries and recovering the valuable metals they contain.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), more than 40 million EVs were on the roads worldwide by the end of 2023. Yet while these vehicles eliminate tailpipe emissions, their batteries pose new sustainability challenges. The raw materials used to make them, especially lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite, are limited, unevenly distributed around the world, and often extracted in environmentally and socially problematic conditions.
This is where EV battery recycling comes in: a critical step not just for sustainability but for securing supply chains, lowering costs, and reducing dependence on virgin mineral extraction.
Why Recycle EV Batteries?
Each lithium-ion EV battery contains a tightly packed structure of anodes and cathodes, typically made from graphite and a mix of lithium, cobalt and nickel. Over time, these batteries degrade and are eventually removed from vehicles. If not properly handled, they risk leaking toxic materials into the environment or catching fire during disposal.
More importantly, without recycling, the valuable critical minerals they contain would be lost. These metals are expensive to mine and refine, and demand is expected to grow rapidly. For example, the World Bank projects that by 2050, global demand for lithium could increase by nearly 500 per cent, with cobalt and nickel not far behind.
Recycling essentially offers a more sustainable and secure alternative. By 2040, up to 50 per cent of the UK’s EV battery material demand could be met through recycling, according to estimates shared by Altilium Clean Technology, a UK-based battery recycling firm. As Dr Christian Marston, Altilium’s COO, puts it: “If we do battery recycling at scale, we can produce materials at around 20% lower cost than commercial imports—and with significantly lower emissions.”
A Circular Model Made in Britain
Altilium is an example of a company at the forefront of this movement. Based in Tavistock, Devon, with new large-scale facilities under development near Plymouth, the company has created a fully integrated recycling process that turns old EV batteries into battery-ready materials.
The heart of its process is EcoCathode™, which is a hydrometallurgical method that uses water-based chemistry instead of high-emission smelting. Here’s a brief summary of how it works:
Step 1 – Shredding
Spent EV batteries are mechanically shredded into a fine, dark powder known as “black mass”. This material contains a mix of critical metals, plastics and other by-products.
Step 2 – Acid Leaching
The black mass is soaked in a sulphuric acid solution. This dissolves the key metals (lithium, nickel, and cobalt) into a liquid form, separating them from inert or less valuable materials.
Step 3 – Graphite Recovery
Before further processing, the graphite from the anode is extracted and purified. Altilium reports a 99 per cent recovery rate for graphite, which is then reused in new anodes.
Step 4 – Metal Separation
Using a series of chemical tweaks, unwanted elements like aluminium and copper are filtered out. The remaining solution contains the valuable metals needed for new batteries.
Step 5 – Solvent Extraction
The lithium, nickel and cobalt are separated out one by one using an advanced chemical process involving kerosene and selective reagents. This allows for high-purity recovery of each element.
Step 6 – Reprocessing for Reuse
Finally, the extracted metals are refined into cathode active materials (CAM) and precursor materials, which can be fed directly back into battery production. This closes the loop by turning waste back into high-value battery inputs. The company claims this method produces 74 per cent less carbon emissions for CAM and 77 per cent less for anode materials compared to traditional sourcing. Their recycled components are already being tested at scale by the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, with a major car manufacturer due to validate performance later this year.
“Closed-Loop” Supply Chain
Altilium’s aim is to create a “closed-loop” supply chain within the UK, keeping resources onshore, reducing dependence on foreign imports, and supporting national energy security. “We see batteries which are in this country as a strategic asset in the UK,” says Marston. “If you do the processing in the UK, you add the value in the UK.”
Who Else Is in the Race?
Although Altilium is leading in the UK, it’s certainly not alone globally. Several firms are now building out battery recycling ecosystems, each with different models and geographic strengths. These include, for example:
– Redwood Materials, founded by Tesla co-creator JB Straubel, is a major US player with sites in Nevada and South Carolina. The company focuses on recovering and refining materials like lithium, cobalt and nickel, and has established partnerships with Toyota, VW, and BMW. Redwood’s strategy is to build a full circular supply chain, reducing US dependence on imported minerals.
– Li-Cycle, based in Canada but operating facilities across North America and Germany, also uses hydrometallurgical recycling. The company reports recovery rates of up to 95% for key materials, and is working closely with US policymakers through funding support from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
– Ecobat, the world’s largest battery recycler, which is pivoting from its traditional lead-acid battery work towards lithium-ion recycling. With a strong global logistics and collection network, Ecobat has been expanding its lithium battery services across Europe and the US. According to its website, the company is focused on achieving “closed-loop recycling rates” for lithium comparable to those already achieved for lead.
How Most EV Battery Recycling Technology Works
Most battery recycling processes follow similar core steps, i.e., collection, dismantling, shredding into black mass, and then separation and refinement of metals.
Older approaches like pyrometallurgy, which uses high temperatures to melt down batteries, are effective but extremely energy intensive and carbon heavy. They also tend to destroy some of the more delicate materials, such as graphite.
Newer techniques like hydrometallurgy, used by Altilium, Li-Cycle, and Redwood, rely on water-based chemical treatments. These enable much more precise separation of metals at lower temperatures, resulting in higher recovery rates and far lower emissions.
Altilium’s process, for example, uses sulphuric acid to soak the black mass, selectively precipitating out low-value metals like iron and copper before extracting more valuable cobalt, nickel and lithium. The graphite is recovered earlier in the process and reprocessed for reuse in new battery anodes. The resulting materials are refined to battery-grade purity and can be used to manufacture brand new battery cells.
Environmental and Economic Benefits
The sustainability case for battery recycling is pretty compelling. For example, according to a 2024 IEA report, recycling critical minerals could cut the need for new mining by up to 40 per cent by 2050. For the automotive industry, that means fewer emissions from extraction, processing, and transport, and less exposure to volatile global commodity markets.
Cost savings are also significant. Altilium estimates that its recycled CAM could be 20 per cent cheaper than virgin equivalents by 2035. This could reduce the overall cost of manufacturing a new EV by 5 per cent, which is quite a meaningful margin in a competitive industry where affordability remains a barrier to adoption.
Also, the environmental gains go far beyond carbon. For example, avoiding new mining means less disruption to ecosystems, fewer human rights violations, and a reduced geopolitical dependency on regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo (which currently supplies two-thirds of the world’s cobalt) or Indonesia (the top source of nickel).
Not Without Its Challenges
Despite the promise, the battery recycling industry is obviously still in its early industrial phase. As Dr Xiaochu Wei of Imperial College London points out, many firms have only recently begun scaling beyond pilot stages. Altilium’s own journey, from a modest lab in 2022 to a full-scale facility in 2025, illustrates both the speed and complexity involved.
Battery designs themselves are also a barrier. With so many chemistries in use, from lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) to nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC), recycling methods must be flexible enough to handle mixed inputs. Standardising designs or redesigning batteries to be easier to dismantle could help but will require coordination across manufacturers.
Greenwashing Risk
It should be noted here that there’s also the risk of greenwashing. For example, as competition intensifies, some firms may make sustainability claims that outpace their actual recovery rates or environmental impact. Regulation can help: the EU’s new Battery Regulation, due to phase in from 2025, will require specific thresholds for material recovery and recycled content in new batteries.
What Does This Mean For Your Organisation?
Recycling EV batteries at scale is starting to look not just possible but inevitable. With regulations tightening, supply chains under pressure, and emissions targets looming, the case for a circular battery economy is becoming hard to ignore. Companies like Altilium are showing that high recovery rates and lower-carbon processes can be achieved using homegrown innovation. If they succeed in scaling up production and maintaining performance, the UK could have a credible, strategic alternative to importing expensive critical minerals from volatile markets.
For UK businesses, particularly in the automotive and clean tech sectors, this opens the door to a more resilient supply chain with greater control over cost and compliance. Manufacturers looking to meet EU recycled content rules from 2025 onwards will need trusted partners, and local recyclers could offer both regulatory support and operational savings. There are also commercial advantages to be gained from marketing genuinely low-carbon products built with verified recycled inputs, which will only become more valuable as sustainability reporting requirements evolve.
The wider benefits stretch further still. Reducing the UK’s reliance on overseas mining reduces exposure to supply disruptions, ethical concerns and carbon-heavy logistics. It also supports the domestic energy transition with onshore capabilities that align with national goals on net zero and industrial growth. For stakeholders across the board, from EV manufacturers and policymakers to investors and consumers, the expansion of battery recycling signals a maturing ecosystem with real potential to deliver on sustainability promises, rather than just headline targets.
None of this, though, will be straightforward. The sector still faces infrastructure gaps, chemistry complexity and the challenge of building scale fast enough to match the rise in end-of-life EVs. However, if early leaders can maintain momentum, the next few years may see battery recycling move from pilot to pillar, a new industrial sector supporting cleaner transport, better economics and lower environmental impact all at once.