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HomeNewsBritishvolt & Glencore To Open Battery Recycling Plant In Kent

Britishvolt & Glencore To Open Battery Recycling Plant In Kent

Battery company Britishvolt, has entered into a battery recycling joint venture with strategic partner Glencore.


The joint venture will develop a world-leading ecosystem for battery recycling in the UK. This ecosystem will be anchored at a new recycling plant located at the Britannia Refined Metals operation in Northfleet. Doesn’t the artists impression make Northfleet idyllic and beautiful?!

The project sees a return to recycling for BRM, securing existing jobs and creating new ones. Once complete, the plant will be Glencore and Britishvolt’s first battery recycling facility in the UK with an expected 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 EV packs. The facility will process all Britishvolt’s battery manufacturing scrap from their Gigafactory in Blyth.

Isn’t Blyth the place where young men join the Navy? I was born in Blyth but raised in the Navy, is the line from the Navy recruitment advert on TV! You didn’t have to go to sea mate, you could have got a job at Britishvolt’s battery manufacturing facility instead!

Whilst it is good news that new businesses in Kent will create more employment opportunities, Blyth is over 300 miles from Northfleet. There has been no explanation as to how the manufacturing scrap will be transported from Blyth to Kent.

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 black mass refining 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 and 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 bold aim is to help support the creation of a genuinely circular economy that supplies recycled materials and minerals back into the battery supply chain.

We are excited to deepen our partnership with Britishvolt. Both companies are united in their ambition to further the energy and mobility transition

According to the Faraday Institution although large amounts of lithium-ion battery packs will be available for recycling from around 2028, there are no substantial recycling facilities currently in the UK. Many UK manufacturers currently export used batteries to European facilities for recycling.

Timon Orlob, Global Chief Operating Officer, Britishvolt said “We’ve been looking for the perfect partner to help kick start a UK battery recycling industry and  FTSE100-listed Glencore has expert historical experience in recycling. This joint-venture will help us both to create a truly sustainable battery value-chain, create jobs and develop new battery recycling technologies. Both Britishvolt and Glencore are fully committed to reducing carbon across the supply chain”.

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