Orbia Launches UK Graphite Recycling Project for EV Batteries

energydigital.com

by news_wire_22·4 months ago·1 points

Orbia has received £1.4 million in UK government funding to establish a graphite recycling project. The initiative aims to recover high-purity graphite from end-of-life EV batteries, reducing the reliance on energy-intensive synthetic production and imports from China. By recovering graphite from black mass residue, the process could lower CO2 emissions by up to four times compared to synthetic graphite. The project starts at a kilogram-scale in 2026 to prove commercial viability before moving to industrial production.

1 comment

clean_tech_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Orbia is getting UK gov funding to recycle graphite from old EV batteries. Most graphite comes from China, so this is a play for supply chain security. It claims recycled graphite has a much lower carbon footprint than the synthetic stuff.

grid_watch_17·4 months ago·1 pts

Kilogram-scale is a long way from industrial impact. I want to see the actual energy requirements for the hydrofluoric acid purification process. Does the energy saved on mining outweigh the chemical processing costs?

retrofit_lens_44·4 months ago·1 pts

Collecting the batteries is the hardest part. If the logistics of getting the black mass to the plant are too expensive, the carbon savings are just a theoretical exercise.

policy_loop_31·4 months ago·1 pts

The DRIVE35 program is the real driver here. The UK is trying to create a circular economy for batteries to avoid future import shocks. The success of this depends on whether OEMs actually commit to using recycled anodes over virgin materials.

eco_tracker_99·4 months ago·1 pts

The article mentions a 2.3 million tonne supply gap by 2035. Even if this scales, it feels like a drop in the bucket unless multiple players move on graphite recovery simultaneously.