Altilium begins construction of UK's first at-scale EV battery recycling and refining plant
The clean technology group's Plymouth facility will process materials from 24,000 electric vehicles annually
Altilium has begun construction on the UK’s first at‑scale electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling and refining plant in Plymouth, Devon, improving domestic capacity for recovering critical minerals.
The ACT 3 scale‑up facility, being built on a four acre site, will have the capacity to recover material from 24,000 EV batteries annually. Using Altilium’s proprietary EcoCathode process, the plant will aim to produce vital battery constituents including Nickel Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP) and Lithium Sulphate, which are essential intermediate materials for domestic cathode production.
Dr Christian Marston, Altilium’s Chief Operating Officer, 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.”
Creating a UK supply chain
The new facility is a step forward for the UK’s recycling infrastructure, which has primarily focused on basic pre‑treatment and black mass production, with most materials being exported for processing.
While other operators, including Ecobat, Veolia, and European Metal Recycling have concentrated on collection, dismantling, and pre‑treatment, Altilium’s approach aims to keep battery metals like lithium and nickel within the UK through advanced hydrometallurgical refining.
According to research from the UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC), Britain faces substantial challenges in securing critical battery materials. Government‑commissioned studies indicate that by 2030, the UK may need to access approximately 40 per cent of what was the entire global lithium production in 2023, highlighting the major scale‑up required in both global supply chains, as well as the strategic importance in developing domestic recycling capabilities.
Engineering design work for the Plymouth facility is being completed by Hatch, a leading global engineering consultancy. The plant is designed to provide operational insights around materials handling, scalability, process optimisation, and environmental compliance as part of Altilium’s structured pathway toward its planned ACT 4 refinery in Teesside.
By creating a domestic source of recycled battery materials, Altilium is addressing a critical gap in the UK’s capabilities. Currently, the country lacks significant capacity in midstream processing and refining stages needed to convert minerals into battery‑grade materials, with most facilities limited to collection and basic pre‑treatment.
This new investment follows Altilium’s recent achievement in producing the UK’s first EV battery cells made from recycled materials at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC). That breakthrough demonstrated that battery cells produced using recovered cathode active materials (CAM) can meet the rigorous performance standards required by the automotive industry.
Recent research from Imperial College London has shown that recycled EV battery materials can actually outperform virgin mined materials, delivering better purity levels, longer battery life, and faster charging capabilities. Unlike raw materials from mining, which require extensive refinement to remove impurities, recycled materials derived from standardised manufactured batteries have been found to reduce variability in metal composition.
Scaling up EV battery recycling
The new facility is part of Altilium’s structured growth strategy, which follows a clear path to commercialisation, culminating in its proposed ACT 4 facility. The company says this will be one of the largest EV battery recycling facilities in Europe, with capacity to process scrap from over 150,000 EVs annually and produce 30,000 metric tonnes of CAM – enough to meet approximately 20 per cent of the UK’s expected needs by 2030.
Marston added: “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.”
“The investment comes during a critical period for the UK’s EV battery sector. Projections indicate that UK EV battery waste volumes will reach approximately 28,000 tonnes by 2030, rising sharply to over 235,000 tonnes by 2040. While manufacturing scrap from gigafactories will initially be the dominant source of recyclable material, end‑of‑life EV batteries are expected to become the primary source from the mid‑2030s as the current generation of electric vehicles reaches retirement.
The recent expansion follows significant inward investment in Altilium during the first quarter of 2025, including funding from Mizuho Bank and Japanese trading and investment group Marubeni Corporation.
