Johnson Matthey, a global leader in sustainable technologies, has entered into an agreement with OnTo Technology, a developer of advanced battery recycling solutions, to scale up OnTo’s patented process for the direct recycling of lithium-ion battery scrap.

The partners will collaborate with the UK Battery Industrialization Center (UKBIC), the newly opened national battery manufacturing scale-up facility in Coventry. Part funding for the feasibility stage of the project is from the UK Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) in partnership with Innovate UK.

Production of lithium ion batteries in Europe for electric vehicles is expected to increase more than ten-fold from 82 GWh/yr to 934 GWh/yr in 2030. With production scrap rates of typically 5-10%, the recycling of critical raw materials from production waste is a significant opportunity to drive efficient and circular manufacturing technologies.

Using direct cathode recycling, valuable electrode coatings can be harvested from battery manufacturing scrap. OnTo’s patented Cathode Healing process restores the coating material to be used in making new batteries. It avoids energy-intensive refining processes, significantly increasing manufacturing efficiency, lowering cost and the carbon footprint of batteries used to power electric cars.

OnTo’s patent portfolio includes whole battery deactivation, sorting, harvesting of electrode materials, cathode-healing and clean precursors for new cathodes.