UK's Recyclus completes project recycling 4,000 lithium-ion batteries

UK battery recycler Technology Minerals has announced that its 48.35% owned battery recycling business, Recyclus Group, has completed a 10-week program recycling 4,000 end-of-life lithium-ion battery modules sourced from electric vehicles.

In a statement released Sept. 25, the London-list company said the program was complete with “leading engineering services and technology company,” utilizing Recyclus' UN-certified and ADR compliant proprietary LiBox containers.

Under the terms of the agreement, Recyclus leased its LiBox boxes to the partner and received gate fees for the processing of the battery modules at its Wolverhampton recycling facility.

"We are proud to help tackle the increasing volumes of end-of-life Li-ion batteries that have emerged in the transition to electrification,” said chairman of Technology Minerals and director of Recyclus, Robin Brundle.

“Successfully delivering this project to recycle 4,000 Li-ion battery modules from a major player in this field is a testament to our ability to become the go-to provider to store, transport and recycle Li-ion batteries on an industrial scale."

This development comes amid Europe experiencing a wave of investment in battery recycling capacity as automakers and battery manufacturers seek to offset the anticipated shortfall in global supplies of critical metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper.

When batteries are manufactured or reach their end of life, production offcuts or used batteries can be collected, dismantled, and shredded to produce black mass, from which critical metals including lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese can be extracted.

The recycling of black mass has become increasingly important as a supplement to virgin material supply, as well as to reduce the carbon footprint in the battery supply chain.

Recyclus' Wolverhampton plant, the UK's first lithium-ion battery recycling facility, has a permit to process up to 22,000 metric tons per year. However, by 2027, the company aims to have an additional four lithium-ion battery recycling plants in operation with a total recycling capacity of 41,500 t/y, it added.

According to Technology Minerals, the plant, which has a recovery rate of 90%, can process the five key battery chemistries as feedstock for black mass production, including handheld batteries and electric bike batteries, as well as batteries for cars, trains and forklift trucks.

The company is also planning to provide a doorstop battery collection service through a partnership with UK hazardous waste management and service delivery provider Slicker Recycling.

On July 3, Technology Minerals announced that Recyclus Group had signed a black mass offtake agreement with Indian energy transition material producer LOHUM Cleantech.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed European black mass cobalt payables stable on the day and on the week at 57.5% basis European cobalt metal 99.8% on Sept. 19. Nickel payables were also stable on the day and on the week at 57.5% basis LME nickel.

These assessments were on the basis of Platts specifications of minimum 3% Li, minimum 5% Co, minimum 12% Ni content in black mass.