Glencore and Britishvolt to build ‘battery recycling ecosystem’ in the UK

Glencore has announced it has entered a recycling joint venture with UK investor in battery cell technologies and R&D, Britishvolt, to develop a ‘world-leading ecosystem’ for battery recycling in the UK.

The ‘ecosystem’ will be anchored at a new recycling plant located at the Britannia Refined Metals operation (BRM) in Northfleet, a Glencore company and is expected to have a processing capacity of a minimum of 10,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries per year, including but not limited to valuable battery manufacturing scrap, portable electronics batteries and full electric vehicle (EV) packs.

The facility will process all Britishvolt’s battery manufacturing scrap from their Gigafactory in Blyth.

The facility is expected to be operational by mid-2023 with the long-term aim of being 100% powered by renewable energy.

The partnership will also look to develop other recycling activities such as the refining of black mass into battery grade raw materials.

The joint venture will leverage Glencore’s multi-decade recycling experience across end of life materials such as discarded electronics, copper/alloy scraps and black mass.

Both companies believe that battery recycling will form a ‘key part’ of the energy transition, efficiently recovering the critical metals needed for the energy transition.

The aim is to help support the creation of a ‘genuinely circular economy that supplies recycled materials and minerals back into the battery supply chain’, it says.

David Brocas, head cobalt trader at Glencore, commented: “We are excited to deepen our partnership with Britishvolt. Both companies are united in their ambition to further the energy and mobility transition. Glencore has decades of recycling experience across multiple disciplines (e-waste/copper scrap/battery).

“This recycling partnership complements our long-term supply agreement for responsible cobalt from our operations in Norway and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“We believe the opportunity to utilise BRM’s operations as a cutting-edge battery recycling facility will help support the development of a UK battery recycling industry.