A UK consortium comprising Jaguar Land Rover, LiBatt Recycling, WMG at the University of Warwick, and Mint Innovation has secured £8.1 million to develop a large-scale process for recovering critical raw materials from end-of-life electric vehicle batteries.
Funded by the UK Department for Business and Trade through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UKLink opens in a new window (APC), the project will expand Mint Innovation’s technology platform to recover lithium, nickel, and cobalt from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries.
The three-year project in the West Midlands is part of the UK Government’s DRIVE35 programme.
As part of the project, the UK Government is investing £2.5 billion in the UK automotive industry to create jobs, helping secure its domestic supply chains, and meeting net-zero targets.
Commenting on the investment, Dr Will Barker, CEO of Mint Innovation, said: “Our team is incredibly excited to partner with JLR, LiBatt Recycling, Recyclus Group, and WMG in this innovative consortium.
“Together, we’re able to advance zero emission automotive manufacturing at a faster pace, pioneering sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling solutions to secure onshore supply of green materials critical for the UK’s rapidly growing EV industry.”
Mint says its aim for the project is to prove its low-carbon hydrometallurgical black mass refining technology at demonstration scale.
The company says this would help the UK automotive industry with onshore and circular supply of lithium, cobalt and nickel for EV batteries.
Dr Barker, CEO of Mint Innovation, commented: “Our team is incredibly excited to partner with JLR, LiBatt Recycling, and WMG in this innovative consortium.
“Together, we’re able to advance zero emission automotive manufacturing at a faster pace, pioneering sustainable lithium-ion battery recycling solutions to secure onshore supply of green materials critical for the UK’s rapidly growing EV industry.”