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News - Commercial Motor
October 11, 2023
UK-based green technology firm Altilium has partnered with upcycling and vehicle electrification company Lunaz, to develop a low carbon solution for end-of-life EV batteries.
The collaboration aims to safely discharge batteries using upcycled electric HGVs before Altilium recovers materials from the depleted batteries during recycling.
Lunaz will create a prototype vehicle that runs on any remaining charge left in the batteries whilst they are transported to Altilium’s planned recycling facilities. This creates a sustainable way for the batteries to be transported, minimising the total environmental impact of the recycling process.
Kamran Mahdavi, CEO of Altilium, commented: “We’re excited to be driving innovation and shaping the future of sustainable, low carbon battery raw materials with our partners at Lunaz, who are at the cutting edge of upcycling ICE vehicles into EVs. Millions of EV batteries will need to be transported by the next decade for recycling or a second life. We are committed to developing low carbon logistical solutions that can cope with these high volumes of waste and support the development of a domestic circular economy for battery metals.”
Altilium plans to set up an EV battery recycling facility in Teesside by 2026. The site will be able to recycle batteries from up to 150,000 EVs a year, which equates to 30,000 MT of Cathode Active Materials (CAM). This can be returned to the battery supply chain and reused for new batteries. By 2040, it’s estimated that annually around 1.4 million batteries will reach end-of-life.
David Lorenz, founder and CEO of Lunaz, added: “Lunaz is proud to have closed the circularity loop with this partnership, further strengthening the company’s position as a fully integrated clean-tech leader. By unlocking the power of upcycling, something we are now able to do at every stage of our unique process, we can provide even greater value and an ever-lessening carbon footprint.”
By upcycling HGVs, Lunaz estimates a saving of 82 percent of the embedded carbon in that vehicle. Waste management company Biffa will receive one of Lunaz’ first upcycled vehicles later this year. Based out of an upcycling centre in Silverstone, Lunaz has capacity to convert over 1,110 commercial vehicles annually.
