Technology Minerals PLC (LSE:TM1) said the Environment Agency has awarded its 49%-owned battery recycling business, Recyclus Group Ltd, a key environmental permit for its recycling plant in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
The permit will provide the critical legal foundation from which Recyclus can receive the variation of licence required to enable the Wolverhampton site to be fully operational, the company said.
"Receiving the EA permit for our Wolverhampton plant is a critical step for the recycling facility to become fully operational which, for the first time, will bring industrial scale recycling capability for lithium-ion batteries in the UK,” said Robin Brundle, chairman of Technology Minerals.
Once fully operational, the Wolverhampton plant will be the first in the UK with the capacity to recycle lithium-ion batteries on an industrial scale and will be a key part of Recyclus' ambition to increase its lithium-ion battery recycling capacity from an estimated 8,300 tonnes in the first full year of operations, to about 41,500 tonnes by 2027.
Recyclus was granted an EA environmental permit at its lead-acid battery recycling plant in Tipton, also in the West Midlands, earlier this month.
READ: Technology Minerals associate awarded 'crucial' environmental permit at Tipton
Recyclus has also been granted priority status by the EA to transfer its permits across its both plants as the EA is satisfied that the development of the company will help maintain national resilience, national infrastructure and/or is critical for environmental protection.
“To be awarded priority status and be categorised as an organisation critical for environmental protection is fantastic,” said Brundle.
“This high-level of recognition from the EA is reflective of the importance of Recyclus' ambition to recycle batteries and establish a circular economy for battery metals in the UK. With the increasing demand for critical battery metals, we are pleased to be seen as integral to ensuring a domestic supply through recycling."