Clean technology group secures funding for battery decarbonising project
Devon-based clean technology group Altilium has been awarded further funding from the UK government’s Automotive Transformation Fund for a new project to decarbonise EV battery recycling.
Altilium has announced a partnership with Lunaz, Europe’s largest upcycling and vehicle electrification business, to develop an innovative and low carbon logistical solution for the safe transportation and discharging of end-of-life EV batteries.
The project is the latest addition to Altilium’s range of technological solutions, developed to ensure the responsible management of EV batteries, from end-of-life collection to direct re-use of recovered materials in the production of new batteries.
Through this collaboration, Lunaz’ team of engineers will use their electrification expertise and proprietary technology to develop a prototype upcycled electric HGV, specifically designed to transport end-of-life EV batteries, and capable of harvesting and running on electrical energy remaining in the batteries. This will enable their efficient, sustainable transport to Altilium’s planned recycling facilities, with the lowest environmental impact, while also discharging them prior to recycling.
Kamran Mahdavi, CEO of Altilium, commented: “We’re excited to be driving innovation and shaping the future of sustainable, low carbon battery raw materials with our partners at Lunaz, who are at the cutting edge of upcycling ICE vehicles into EVs. Millions of EV batteries will need to be transported by the next decade for recycling or a second life and we are committed to developing low carbon logistical solutions that can cope with these high volumes of waste and support the development of a domestic circular economy for battery metals.”
Altilium plans to open the UK’s largest EV battery recycling plant in Teesside in 2026. The facility will have the capacity to recycle batteries from 150,000 EVs a year, producing 30,000 MT of Cathode Active Materials (CAM) for return and reuse in the EV battery supply-chain. By expanding its activities into spent battery collection and management, Altilium will be uniquely positioned to
tackle the high levels of end-of-life battery waste expected in the UK (around 1.4 million batteries per year by 2040), as part of its full battery circularity customer offering.
David Lorenz, founder and CEO of Lunaz, added: “Lunaz is proud to have closed the circularity loop with this partnership, further strengthening the company’s position as a fully integrated clean-tech leader. By unlocking the power of upcycling, something we are now able to at every stage of our unique process, we can provide even greater value and an ever-lessening carbon footprint.”
