The RECOVAS consortium – a pioneering collaboration led by global leader in sustainable materials, EMR – has successfully completed its four year mission to build up the knowledge, technology and skills needed to develop the UK’s first circular economy for end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
Bringing together leading car manufacturers, recyclers, academics and industry innovators, RECOVAS has delivered a blueprint for how the UK can sustainably manage the growing volume of EV batteries reaching end of life.
The project’s final event took place at EMR’s new state-of-the-art battery recycling facility in Birmingham. This marked the end of a successful project funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) that launched in November 2020.
From inception, RECOVAS set out to tackle the complex challenge of creating a circular economy for EV batteries – maximizing their lifecycle through reuse, remanufacturing and recycling.
Following more than four years of innovation, collaboration and hard work not only has a functioning circular supply chain now established but a number of other objectives have been met – each of which will contribute to the circularity of the EV battery market at different stages.
Key achievements include:
- EMR – the UK’s biggest recycler of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) – Made a multimillion-pound investment into a cutting-edge EV battery recycling facility in Birmingham, capable of processing 2,000 tonnes of end-of-life EV batteries per year, creating 14 full-time jobs.
- Car makers BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley Motors have developed guidance for the whole automotive supply chain to ensure the next generation of EVs are designed with re-use, remanufacturing, and recycling in mind.
- Autocraft Drivetrain Solutions has developed a mobile triaging unit, a remanufacturing unit and a battery testing process which can efficiently and safely assess and repair end-of-life EV batteries.
- Connected Energy established a strong business case for utility scale energy storage repurposing second-life electric vehicle batteries.
- WMG at The University of Warwick researched the recovery of lithium and other sought-after metals from black mass, a powder created by the shredding of EV batteries’ power cells during the recycling process, as well as developing expertise in cell level rapid triaging.
- UK Battery Industrialization Centre (UKBIC) developed Life Cycle Analysis and economic assessments.
- Health & Safety Executive (HSE) Science researched the risks posed by the hazardous materials released while shredding EV batteries, in addition to offering support to all project partners on current battery handling operations.
Though the project has officially concluded, the partnerships and culture of collaboration RECOVAS fostered is set to continue – particularly as the supply chain for virgin rare earth metals appears increasingly uncertain.
Alexander Thompson, innovation project manager at EMR, said: “EMR is extremely proud to have led the RECOVAS consortium – a project which has propelled UK EV battery recycling from concept into reality in just four years.
“By focusing on a range of challenges and opportunities associated with this technology, companies in the recycling, automotive and energy sectors have highlighted the huge progress that can be made when we work together.”
Published June 2025
