Altilium has announced the first industrial-scale production of EV battery cells using recycled cathode material in the UK. The trial, completed at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC), used the company’s EcoCathode™ NMC 811-2036 material, recovered from end-of-life EV batteries at its Devon recycling site.

Initial testing showed that the recycled material matched the performance of conventional primary materials, with less than 1% variation across key electrochemical metrics. The manufacturing process ran without technical issues, confirming the material’s compatibility with existing battery production infrastructure.

Dr Christian Marston, co-founder and chief operating officer at Altilium, said: “These results mark a pivotal moment for battery circularity in the UK. For the first time, we’ve demonstrated that battery grade EV cells can be manufactured at scale using recycled materials – with no compromise on quality or manufacturability.”

Richard LeCain, chief technology officer at UKBIC, added: “We’re thrilled with the initial results of these tests. This groundbreaking project marks the beginning of a journey that could reduce the UK’s dependence on imported materials and open up a new market for recycled batteries.”

The cells will now undergo further validation testing with a major automotive OEM. Altilium said the breakthrough positions it to support future regulatory requirements, including incoming EU rules mandating minimum recycled content in EV batteries from 2031.

The company recently opened its ACT 2 facility in Plymouth and is building its ACT 3 plant, with capacity to recover materials from 24,000 end-of-life EVs per year.