Four year collaboration paves the way for EV battery recycling future
Thu 08 May 2025
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A four-year collaboration between leading car manufacturers academics, and others has concluded its work to build up the knowledge, technology and skills needed to develop the UK’s first circular economy for end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
The RECOVAS consortium - a project funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) - has delivered a blueprint for how the UK can sustainably manage the growing volume of EV batteries reaching the end of their usable life.
The project's concluding event took place at EMR’s new state-of-the-art battery recycling facility in Birmingham, ending the activity which launched in November 2020.
From inception, RECOVAS set out to tackle the complex challenge of creating a circular economy for EV batteries – maximising their lifecycle through reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling.
Project leaders say that a functioning circular supply chain now been established but a number of other objectives have also been met – each of which will contribute to the circularity of the EV battery market at different stages.
Key achievements include:
- EMR – the UK’s biggest recycler of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) - Made a multimillion-pound investment into a cutting-edge EV battery recycling facility in Birmingham, capable of processing 2,000 tonnes of end-of-life EV batteries per year, creating 14 full-time jobs
- Car makers BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley Motors have developed guidance for the whole automotive supply chain to ensure the next generation of EVs are designed with re-use, remanufacturing, and recycling in mind
- Autocraft Drivetrain Solutions has developed a mobile triaging unit, a remanufacturing unit and a battery testing process which can efficiently and safely assess and repair end-of-life EV batteries
- Connected Energy established a strong business case for utility scale energy storage repurposing second-life electric vehicle batteries
- WMG at The University of Warwick researched the recovery of lithium and other sought-after metals from black mass, a powder created by the shredding of EV batteries’ power cells during the recycling process, as well as developing expertise in cell level rapid triaging
- UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) developed Life Cycle Analysis and economic assessments
- Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Science researched the risks posed by the hazardous materials released while shredding EV batteries, in addition to offering support to all project partners on current battery handling operations.
Alexander Thompson, Innovation Project Manager at EMR, said: “By focusing on a range of challenges and opportunities associated with this technology, companies in the recycling, automotive and energy sectors have highlighted the huge progress that can be made when we work together. While RECOVAS has ended, its legacy continues in partnerships which will continue to benefit this growing industry in the years and decades ahead.”
Professor David Greenwood, Director for Industrial Engagement, WMG at The University of Warwick (a former Zemo Partnership Board member), said: “RECOVAS has demonstrated the power of academic and industry collaboration in tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the transition to electric vehicles.
“Our research into the recovery of critical materials from EV batteries and the safe handling of battery materials has provided vital knowledge to support a truly circular battery economy”
Image: Courtesy APC
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