UK’s Department for Business and Trade, through the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC), has funded a three-year project in the West Midlands to scale Mint Innovation’s battery recycling platform.
The initiative is part of the £2.5 billion DRIVE35 program, aimed at strengthening the UK automotive industry while accelerating electrification.
At the core of the project is Mint Innovation’s hydrometallurgical refining process, designed to recover lithium, nickel, and cobalt from black mass—the residue left after mechanical shredding of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. Unlike pyrometallurgical methods, which are energy-intensive and emit large amounts of CO₂, Mint’s low-carbon approach is positioned as both a technological and environmental alternative. Demonstrating this process at scale is seen as a critical step toward reducing the UK’s dependence on imported materials.
The consortium brings together JLR, LiBatt Recycling, Recyclus Group, and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), aligning upstream recovery with downstream automotive demand. With UK battery gigafactories still under development, establishing closed-loop supply chains is seen as an urgent priority. According to the Faraday Institution, the UK could require up to 60 GWh of domestic cell production capacity by 2030, translating into substantial demand for raw materials.
Mint Innovation’s CEO, Dr. Will Barker, emphasized the project’s dual role in both sustainability and industrial resilience, noting that “onshore supply of green materials is critical for the UK’s rapidly growing EV industry.” However, questions remain over scalability and economics. Hydrometallurgical refining is technically proven, but commercial viability depends on consistent feedstock supply, regulatory frameworks for battery collection, and integration with larger recycling ecosystems.
The project builds on mounting concerns over critical mineral security. The International Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that mineral demand for EVs could increase fourfold by 2040, with lithium supply in particular facing structural shortages. For the UK, which currently imports the majority of its lithium and cobalt, the risk is heightened by geopolitical volatility and concentrated supply chains dominated by China.
