Adding detailed data to this picture was the final report of the FutuRaM collaborative research project published in May. It found that in 2022, while 5.2 million tonnes (mn t) of critical raw materials (CRMs) incorporated into products were sold in the UK, EU, Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, only 2.1mn t were incorporated into waste and 1.4mn t were recovered.

It estimated that 8.4–12.2mn t of CRMs might be offered to the market in products by 2050, with waste generation rising to 5.2–6.4mn t and recovery 4.7–5.7mn t.

The report found that many strategically important materials, including lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements, are largely lost during collection and/or waste processing today. On the other hand, five CRMs – including platinum and rhodium – have recovery rates of over 80% thanks largely to well-established collection and processing routes, and eight others, including aluminium, copper, palladium and nickel, fall in the 40–80% range, where collection and treatment infrastructure is in place but losses remain significant.

Changes in policy and industrial processes could see 17 CRMs (including cobalt and lithium) achieving recovery rates above 80% by 2050.  

The project involved comprehensive mapping of CRMs embedded in discarded products, industrial residues and demolished infrastructure; 42 in total, across waste streams including electronic waste, vehicles and their batteries to wind turbines, slags and ashes, and building construction and demolition debris. Project data are now available through the Urban Mine Platform.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Devon-based cleantech firm Altilium has won a patent for its EcoCathode EV battery recycling process. The company’s EcoCathode and EcoAnode processes recycle EV batteries into battery precursors, cathode active materials (CAM), cathode precursor and anode active materials.

Co-Founder and COO Christian Marston said: ‘Our process enables critical battery metals to be recovered and regenerated into battery-grade materials with dramatically lower carbon emissions than traditional mining and refining.’

The company’s first plant (ACT3) began operations in Plymouth in 2025. The process has been proven at an ‘industrially representative scale’ through collaborative R&D. A closed-loop system is said to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. A plant envisioned for Teesside would produce 30,000mn t of CAM from 150,000 EVs per year, which Altilium said was enough for around 20% of the UK’s expected needs by 2030.

In Europe, metal recycling firm TSR Group has joined materials supplier BASF to cooperate on recycling EV batteries. A TSR joint venture with Rhenus Automotive dismantles and discharges end-of-life batteries; other TSR operations include treatment processes, logistics and waste-management sites. BASF provides CAM and recycling services, including a facility for spent battery waste called black mass, in Schwarzheide, Germany. The scope of collaboration includes dismantling and discharging end-of-life batteries, processing spent batteries into black mass, and, perhaps in the future, processing metal fractions from black mass.  

‘The recovery of battery metals is far more than a technical process. It is a strategic prerequisite for security of supply and the competitiveness of European industry. If we succeed in consistently keeping these raw materials within the European market and making them available again, we strengthen industrial value creation and reduce geopolitical dependencies’, said Marc Affüpper, Managing Director of TSR Group.

‘Partnerships are key to developing the battery recycling market not only successfully but also more rapidly,’ said Daniel Schönfelder, President of BASF’s Battery Materials Division.