Midlands Battery Recycling Centre

WORKING TOWARDS THE UK’S TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) BATTERIES.

THE UK’S FIRST DEDICATED FACILITY FOR RECYCLING LITHIUM-ION (LI-ION) EV BATTERIES

PROJECT OVERVIEW

  • Construct Bids secured the contract to design and build a Midlands-based Battery Recycling Centre that will recover copper, aluminium, and “black mass” (a graphite-rich concentrate of cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel), to make new batteries.
  • Construction works comprise ground remediation, piling, building refurbishment, new electrical infrastructure and fire suppression.
  • Total project value £4M: (Construction, equipment and power infrastructure).

PROJECT COMPRISES OF

  • Contaminated Ground: Historical industrial use required ground improvement, addressed through imaginative design using raised plinths, piling foundations, and surface water retention and control systems to prevent leachate migration.
  • Fire and Safety Risks: Li-ion batteries pose thermal runaway hazards, necessitating enhanced fire-rated structures, suppression systems, and compliant boundary elevations.
  • Regulatory and Logistical Constraints: Asbestos presence demanded careful removal, while integrating process equipment (e.g., water tanks for non-potable cooling) required phased enabling works to minimise downtime

DELIVERABLES

lithium

Circular economy for an EV battery. Use, Recycle, Re-use!

B Incoming Fire Protected Storage 1 1

Heavy-duty fire-protected modular building constructed on a floating foundation to store the incoming end-of-life Lithium-Ion batteries for discharge, shredding, and onward recycling processes.

C1 Fire Suppression Water Tank 1 1

Fire Suppression water tank and pumps. The Water Tank is built using a specialist piling and design system that avoids disturbing difficult ground and a high-water table.

C2 Fire Suppression Pumps 1 1

Fire Suppression water tank and pumps. The Water Tank is built using a specialist piling and design system that avoids disturbing difficult ground and a high-water table.

D2 Prepare and delivery to shredding plant 1 1

Transformed building and delivery conveyor to battery shredding plant.

E Delivery 1 1

Battery delivery hopper

F Product separation 1 1

Recycling, shredding and separation of shredded products

G Shredded raw product ready for separation and re-use in new Lithium Ion Batteries 1 1

Example of shredded product for separation and re-use in new Lithium-Ion batteries

H Product Ready For Recycling Phase 1 1

Inert shredded and ‘Black-Mass’ product for onward recycling and new battery production.

I Recycled Product storage building 1 1

New modular building to store recycled battery products.

J Administration Offices 1 1

New administration offices