Altilium

A Plymouth-based battery recycling company that is building a plant to recover lithium, nickel and graphite from electric vehicle batteries.

About Altilium

Altilium is a clean-technology company that recycles lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles. Many recyclers shred batteries into a black powder and send it abroad. Altilium is working on a different route, called hydrometallurgical refining, which uses liquid chemistry to pull out valuable metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt, plus graphite, so that they can be used again in new batteries. Its patented process is called EcoCathode.

The company describes its aim as closing the loop on battery materials in Britain, building a circular supply chain so that the UK relies less on imported raw materials. It says that this also supports energy security and reduces the environmental impact of zero-emission transport. Its COO, Dr Christian Marston, has called its Plymouth plant "the next phase" of its mission and a cornerstone of the UK EV battery supply chain.

Altilium is headquartered in Plymouth, Devon, and a data profile gives its founding year as 2019. Its published plan has four stages. ACT 1 is a technology centre in Devon where EcoCathode was developed, ACT 2 is a pilot line processing one electric vehicle battery a day, and ACT 3 is a four-acre scale-up plant in Plymouth, which began construction in April 2025. That plant is designed to recover materials from the equivalent of 24,000 electric vehicles a year. ACT 4 is a planned larger refinery later this decade, with Teesside reported as a location. Engineering design for ACT 3 was by the consultancy Hatch, and the company works with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK and Innovate UK.

The company says the Plymouth plant is expected to create around 70 skilled clean-technology jobs in the South West. Those jobs cover chemical and process engineering, plant operations, health and safety, laboratory work, logistics and project management. The process is aimed at keeping valuable metals in the UK, in contrast with exporting shredded battery material for refining overseas. Company claims such as 95% recovery of lithium, nickel and cobalt, and 99% of graphite, are its own figures.

Altilium is a good example of a company building a new UK industry. If you like chemistry, engineering or sustainability, it shows how those subjects can lead to practical jobs outside the big cities.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Recovering lithium, nickel and graphite from used batteries.', 'title': 'EV battery recycling'}
• {'desc': 'A patented route to battery-grade materials for new cells.', 'title': 'EcoCathode process'}
• {'desc': 'A planned plant for 24,000 EVs worth of batteries a year.', 'title': 'Plymouth scale-up plant'}

Key facts

• Headquartered in Plymouth, Devon; founded 2019 per a data profile
• ACT 3 plant construction began April 2025
• Plant sized for the batteries from about 24,000 EVs a year
• Around 70 skilled jobs expected in the South West (company claim)

Website: www.altilium.com