The UK needs to be better at recycling lithium ion batteries and other essential materials for green industries and power if it is to meet its environmental targets, a thinktank has warned.
According to a report by the Green Alliance, the UK is in danger of becoming over-reliant on imports of materials like lithium. The use of lithium titanate batteries is seen as essential in providing more renewable energy, especially in motor vehicles as petrol and diesel are phased out.
Titled Critical Point: Securing the raw materials needed for the UK’s green transition, the report noted significant problems involved in the production and supply of lithium. It highlighted the fact that the mining and transportation methods involved “can cause considerable environmental and social harm, running counter to goals on climate change, biodiversity and human rights”.
Furthermore, the report noted rising “geopolitical tensions” involved in the supply of many materials, with China controlling up to 60 per cent of the global supply of some materials.
The organisation noted that in 2019, Britain’s electric car fleet included over 1,400 tonnes of lithium and 800 tonnes of cobalt, with respective combined values of £26.3 million and £31.5 million. Its analysis indicated that were this material recycled, it could produce 220,000 new batteries for electric cars, the equivalent of ten per cent of the estimated sales volume for 2035.
While recycling may be a major part of the strategy for managing rare materials resources, the UK may at least be able to source some of its lithium here in Britain, with significant known deposits in locations such as Cornwall and County Durham.
Companies such as Cornish Lithium have been exploring the county’s deposits, with projects to extract the mineral from both brine and rock.
It has been known that lithium deposits are present in Cornwall since the 19th century, but the growing importance of this mineral means the extent of the deposits and methods of extraction will only now be fully explored.