UK’s first ever EV battery recycling facility to open in Sheffield

RSBruce have launched the UK’s first-ever lithium-ion battery recycling service. 

According to the University of Warwick, it is expected that from 2035 every new passenger car sold across the country will be electric and will have a lithium-ion battery. 

Research also shows that it is predicted that by 2040, 339,000 tonnes of these batteries, which have an average lifespan of around 11 years and contain precious metals such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and copper, will reach end of life.

Recognising the potential this offers to UK based recycling specialists, RSBruce has invested in new equipment to offer whole life cycle lithium-ion battery recycling services completely in-house. 

Sam Haig, battery recycling business manager at RSBruce, comments: ‘Legislation and incentives are driving sales of electric vehicles in the UK and around the world. Their popularity has been growing over the past 10 years which means that vehicles are starting to reach the end of life and require recycling of their lithium-ion batteries.

‘At the moment, there is also a growing market for lithium-ion batteries from laptops and mobile phones to be treated in a similar way.

‘When it comes to recycling the batteries, we know most UK companies export their end of life units to Europe and other parts of the world for recycling and material recovery and as a result, transport accounts for around a third of the cost associated with the service.

‘At present, there is no capability for lithium-ion battery recycling in the UK, and facilities are needed to address this growing challenge.

‘At RSBruce we are aiming to make things simpler, cheaper and better for the environment and for the customer by offering full-service lithium-ion battery recycling in-house here at our Sheffield based facility. This will not only reduce the cost for the customer, but it also lowers the carbon footprint, and it means we are preventing the loss of valuable materials by keeping the precious metals recovered here in the UK. Better still, our facility welcomes customer audits meaning our clients have peace of mind knowing their products are being recycled responsibly.’

Photo by myenergi