Hundreds of jobs are set to be created after EV battery recycling firm Altilium Metals selected the North East to set up a new factory.
Green technology group Altilium Metals is set to create a multimillion-pound site on Teesside, capable of transforming battery waste from more than 150,000 electric vehicles into Cathode Active Material – a key component of new batteries. The planned plant would create between 100 and 200 jobs by 2025, while also creating or sustaining hundreds more during the 18-month construction phase. The chosen location is set to be revealed at a later date.
Altilium Metals recently secured £3m in UK Government innovation funding to scale up its process to extract the metals from spent batteries and last month the firm was named the winner of a UK Government Faraday Battery Challenge Award of £1.2m in conjunction with Imperial College, London.
Read more: Britishvolt money 'hasn't gone anywhere' says Business Secretary Grant Shapps
The UK is set to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030, which means that EV use could generate more than 11 million tonnes of battery waste each year by the end of the decade.
Kamran Mahdavi, CEO, Altilium Metals, said: “We are excited to announce Teesside as the preferred location for Altilium Metal’s first UK recycling plant, as we scale up our technology to help meet the growing demand for critical metals and move towards a circular economy for the battery value chain. The significant volume of end-of-life batteries and scrap from giga-factories expected in the UK requires mega-scale recycling solutions and we look forward to demonstrating the process at scale here on Teesside.
“Until recently, lithium-ion batteries were regarded as hazardous waste, but they can actually serve as valuable sources of raw materials - such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. Recycling, or 'urban mining', will play an important role in making sure these valuable metals are returned to the supply chain in the most environmentally friendly way, rather than ending up as landfill waste.”
Meanwhile, mineral processing company Green Lithium has also submitted plans to build the UK’s first large-scale lithium refinery in the region – a move which will create more than 1,000 jobs while also meeting the needs of the electric battery manufacturing and automotive sectors in the UK and the EU. The company is planning to build the refinery at PD Ports, where it will provide annual production of around 50,000 tonnes of low-carbon, battery-grade lithium chemicals.
Green Lithium has forecasted annual production levels to meet the needs of around one million EVs in a European market, producing more than 15 million by 2030. Construction of the plant will take an estimated three years, sustaining or creating more than 1,000 jobs, while a further 250 jobs will be created once it is up and running in 2025.
On Altilium Metals’ plans, Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen added: “This latest announcement will help cement our expertise and status as a fantastic place to do business, helping to attract more ground-breaking firms in the cleaner, safer and healthier industries of tomorrow, while creating hundreds more good-quality, well-paid jobs.
READ NEXT:
- Construction innovator Merit gears up for growth after expansion approval
- UK must "act now and act fast" on green investment, minister tells Tyneside event
- Developers unveil modern makeover for former Newcastle Building Society offices
- North East firm LCM makes final for prestigious Earthshot Prize 2022
- Read more North East business news here
