Batteries for electric vehicles are notoriously difficult to recycle, but growing demand for the rare metals they contain is leading to greater interest in retrieving their contents.
The majority of ev battery recycling is carried out in China, with smaller amounts done in the US and Europe. But as the number of electric vehicles in circulation grows, so too will the demand for the rare metals needed for manufacture along with the number of batteries to be recycled. The countries where materials such as cobalt, lithium and nickel are mined are limited, making the idea of great self-sufficiency attractive.
Altilium, a recycling firm based in south-west England, that has been perfecting techniques to be able to retrieve as many elements from the old electric car batteries as possible. Altilium's Finance Director, Sean Joseph, joins Kathryn to talk about what the company is hoping to achieve.
