Altilium, the UK-based clean technology company, has started construction on the country’s first at-scale electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling facility with integrated chemical refining, marking a key step in the UK’s push to create a domestic supply chain for critical battery materials.

The new facility, located in Plymouth, Devon, is part of Altilium’s phased ACT growth strategy and will be capable of recovering lithium, nickel, graphite and other critical minerals from approximately 24,000 EV batteries per year. These recovered materials will be refined into Nickel Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate and Lithium Sulphate, essential precursors in cathode production for new batteries.

The plant will use Altilium’s proprietary EcoCathode™ process and is intended to support the company’s wider ambition to develop a circular battery economy. The site, covering four acres, is already under construction, with Hatch leading the engineering design.

Dr Christian Marston, chief operating officer at Altilium, said: “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.”

Until now, battery recycling in the UK has mainly focused on shredding and black mass production. Altilium’s facility will take the next step by using hydrometallurgical processes to refine battery metals domestically, reducing dependence on imported resources and supporting UK gigafactories with locally produced materials.

The ACT 3 plant will also provide the operational and environmental learnings needed ahead of the development of ACT 4, Altilium’s planned mega-scale battery metal refinery later this decade.