Altilium announces $5m investment from Marubeni
UK-based clean technology group Altilium has announced a US$5m strategic investment from leading Japanese trading and investment group Marubeni Corporation.
The cash, part of its Series B funding round, aims to support Altilium’s growth strategy and its mission to deliver the UK’s most sustainable lithium-ion battery materials, through its full battery circularity offering, encompassing zero-carbon EV battery collection, black mass recycling and chemical refining to battery metals salts, cathode precursor (pCAM) and cathode active materials (CAM).
Investment will include plans for the construction one of the UK’s largest EV battery recycling facility, to be located in Teesside, including detailed engineering studies, land acquisition, planning and permitting, and recruitment of the key leadership team.
Once operational, the plant will have capacity to process battery waste from 150,000 EVs per year, producing 30,000 MT of low carbon CAM. This would be enough to meet 20% of the UK’s CAM requirement by 2030, the firm said.
Altilium aims to develop a sustainable circular economy for battery materials in the UK, reducing dependency on international supply chains and saving natural resources. The company’s EcoCathodeTM technology can recover over 95% of the battery metals, it claims, from an end-of-life EV battery, reducing the cost of battery raw materials by up to 20% and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 74% compared to virgin materials.
Altilium and Marubeni have been working together closely since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2023. Under the framework of the MOU, the two companies have been jointly developing a closed loop EV battery recycling business in the UK and establishing a supply chain of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries for recycling at Altilium’s facilities.
Kamran Mahdavi, CEO of Altilium, said:
“We are proud to welcome Marubeni as a strategic partner at this pivotal stage in Altilium’s growth journey. Their investment strengthens our position as leaders in sustainable battery materials and reinforces our commitment to building the UK’s largest EV battery recycling facility.
“Together, we are advancing our mission to create a UK closed-loop supply chain, reduce dependency on imported materials and lowering the environmental footprint of battery production. This partnership marks a major milestone in establishing a truly circular economy for the UK’s battery industry.”
Image courtesy of Shutterstock