Government awards funding to battery recycling project supported by JLR
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is making significant strides in promoting sustainability and reducing reliance on virgin materials through its investment in battery recycling programs. One of the key initiatives is the Mint Innovation project, a battery ingredient recycling trial that will run in the U.K.'s West Midlands for the next three years.
The Mint Innovation project is backed by a consortium including JLR, LiBatt Recycling, and the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick. The initiative has secured £8.1 million ($10.8 million) in funding, half of which comes from the UK government’s DRIVE35 program.
The project aims to recover critical minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt from used electric vehicle (EV) batteries using advanced, sustainable recycling methods such as bioleaching. This low-energy, low-emission process separates metals from battery waste without the high environmental and capital costs associated with traditional methods like smelting.
By recovering high-quality battery-grade materials domestically, the project seeks to feed these recycled minerals back into the supply chain, thereby decreasing dependence on imported virgin raw materials that are often expensive and environmentally intensive to extract.
JLR's involvement in these recycling programs falls under its broader sustainability goals to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its supply chain, operations, and products by 2039. The company’s venture arm, InMotion Ventures, has invested in various sustainability and recycling startups, including Mint Innovation and Ascend Elements, as part of a portfolio of 20 companies dedicated to recycling and circular economy initiatives.
This portfolio is part of JLR's stated aim to achieve net zero-carbon emissions across its supply chain, products, and operations by 2039. The Mint Innovation project is one of multiple programs supported by JLR's recycling push, which began in 2022.
The University of Warwick’s assistant professor, Beth Johnston, states that the project's advanced processes aim to deliver high-quality materials and reduce reliance on virgin materials. The Mint Innovation project is not related to the tariff woes affecting European automakers or Toyota's record output.
In summary, JLR's backing of the Mint Innovation battery recycling project showcases significant progress in sustainable material recovery, with a scope that includes innovative bioleaching technology, a strategic UK-based trial, and integration into the broader EV ecosystem to reduce reliance on virgin materials while advancing net-zero objectives.
The Mint Innovation project, which is backed by a consortium including JLR, employs advanced, sustainable recycling methods from the field of environmental-science, such as bioleaching, to recover critical minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt from used electric vehicle (EV) batteries. This low-emission process is part of Jaguar Land Rover's (JLR) broader commitment to reducing reliance on virgin materials, as it seeks to feed these recycled minerals back into the supply chain, thereby promoting technology that decreases dependence on imported raw materials.
