Rare permit to recycle Lithium-Ion granted to UK batteries giant

A rare environmental permit to recycle Lithium Ion batteries, including those stemming from electric bikes, has been granted to newly-listed Technology Minerals.

The Wolverhampton recycling plant now has the legal foundation to begin, at scale, taking batteries from bike and car businesses and recycling the materials. To this point, despite the demand, this capability is a novelty and demand outstrips supply of cells at the end of life.

Profiled on CyclingIndustry.News when the company listed on the London Stock Exchange, Chairman Robin Brundle confirmed that “the electric bike market is one of the sectors we are looking to work with,” adding “there is a growing demand for the separated materials (black mass) from battery manufacturers in the UK and around the world and we are continuing to build our operational capability to support these activities.”

The process will be managed by 49% owned partner Recyclus, which also operates a secondary plant in Tipton with a current speciality to recycle lead acid batteries. This environmental permit is now transferrable to that site, giving the business two UK sites in operation. The Wolverhampton plot is not yet fully operational, but will soon be the first to offer “industrial scale” lithium-ion recycling in the UK. Further sites are apparently planned.

Specifically, the goal is to increase lithium-ion battery recycling capacity from an estimated 8,300 tonnes in the first full year of operations, to circa 41,500 tonnes by 2027.

UK electric bike sales have accelerated ahead of electric car sales by volume, presenting a circular economy challenge to the bike industry when end-of-life battery enquiries come up. Research by CyclingIndustry.News suggests that 24.7% of bike shops are currently stuck with electric bike batteries that they are struggling to dispose of. Just 15% have an end-of-life battery disposal plan underway.