Altilium, a UK-based battery materials recycling company, has secured £18.5 million (approximately $24.8 million) in grant funding through the UK government’s DRIVE35 Scale-Up Fund. The company also received a separate DRIVE35 R&D grant for a collaborative project with JLR and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). Together, the awards position Altilium to build the UK’s first commercial refinery for recovering critical minerals from end-of-life EV batteries.
Highlights
- Altilium received £18.5 million ($24.8 million) from the UK’s DRIVE35 Scale-Up Fund to construct its ACT3 recycling facility in Plymouth, Devon, with commissioning planned for late 2027.
- A separate DRIVE35 R&D grant funds a collaboration with JLR and WMG to produce and test EV battery pouch cells using both recycled cathode and anode materials — a first in the UK.
- The ACT3 plant will process 24,000 EV batteries per year, producing nickel MHP, lithium sulfate, and graphite for domestic battery manufacturing.
- Previous cell trials using Altilium’s recycled cathode materials showed comparable performance to virgin materials, with 32% lower greenhouse gas emissions.
ACT3 Commercial Facility
The ACT3 plant will be located in Plymouth, where Altilium already operates the UK’s only hydrometallurgical pilot facility for EV battery recycling. Once operational, the plant will produce approximately 5,200 metric tons per year of nickel mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), 8,000 metric tons of lithium sulfate (1,000 metric tons lithium carbonate equivalent), and 5,400 metric tons of graphite.
Construction is expected to begin in summer 2026. The expansion will create 70 jobs in Plymouth and lay the groundwork for a larger ACT4 facility planned for Teesside. That plant would process 150,000 EV batteries per year, producing 30,000 metric tons of cathode active materials (CAM) annually.
The £18.5 million grant is expected to attract additional private investment. Altilium has raised more than £17 million ($22.8 million) to date from strategic backers including SQM Lithium Ventures, Marubeni Corporation, and Mizuho Bank.
R&D Collaboration With JLR and WMG
Under the separate DRIVE35 R&D grant, Altilium will partner with JLR and WMG to produce NMC 811 pouch cells containing 100% recycled anode materials. The cathode active materials will incorporate recycled metals at levels meeting the EU’s 2036 minimum recycled content targets: 26% cobalt, 12% lithium, and 15% nickel.
Recovery of cathode and anode materials will take place at Altilium’s ACT2 pilot facility in Plymouth using the company’s proprietary EcoCathode and EcoAnode processes. Altilium’s hydrometallurgical technology recovers 95% of cathode metals and 99% of graphite from end-of-life batteries and production scrap.
WMG will manufacture electrodes on its Advanced Materials Battery Industrialization Centre (AMBIC) prototyping line and assemble the pouch cells for testing. In addition, WMG will test second-generation recycled materials — cathode and anode content recovered from batteries that already contained recycled materials — to validate a fully circular supply chain.
JLR will review cell performance and material test results to assess suitability for future automotive applications. Sustainability consultancy Minviro will conduct a lifecycle analysis quantifying the carbon savings from anode recovery and cell production.
Supply Chain Context
Graphite is the single largest material in an EV battery by volume, comprising up to 50%. CAM is the most costly component, accounting for 37% of cell cost. China currently dominates the global supply chain for both materials.
According to the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), the UK automotive industry will need 140,000 metric tons of CAM and 90,000 metric tons of anode materials per year to reach its target of 1.3 million EVs by 2035. UK demand for lithium alone is expected to rise 1,100% over the same period, according to the UK Critical Minerals Strategy.
The APC estimates total battery scrap from portable electronics, manufacturing waste, and end-of-life EVs in the UK will reach 110,000 metric tons by 2035. Currently, the UK has no at-scale refining capacity for battery waste. That material is exported to Asia for processing.
An independent lifecycle assessment found that Altilium’s recycled materials deliver up to 74% lower emissions than mined alternatives.
Previous Collaboration
The project builds on earlier work between Altilium, JLR, and WMG under the APC’s ARMD3 program. Electrochemical testing during that collaboration showed cells made with recycled cathode materials performed comparably to those using virgin materials, while delivering a 32% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Christian Marston, Altilium COO and co-founder, said: “We are proud to be continuing our partnership with JLR and WMG, which builds on the success of our APC ARMD3 collaboration, where we demonstrated the UK’s first EV battery cells produced using recycled cathode active materials. With the inclusion of recycled graphite in this new project, the UK will now have a viable route to produce both cathode and anode materials domestically, an essential step for car manufacturers seeking supply chain resilience and sustainable battery materials.”
On the ACT3 facility, Marston added: “This funding marks a pivotal moment for Altilium and for the UK’s battery ecosystem. By scaling our recycling technology and building the UK’s first commercial facility of its kind, we are closing the loop on battery materials and enhancing the growth, productivity and competitiveness of the UK automotive supply chain.”
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