February 29, 2024: Lead and lithium recycling giant Ecobat said yesterday it had finalized a new contract to recycle EV batteries for Volkswagen Group UK.
Texas-headquartered Ecobat said VW will be the first to use the firm’s newly-opened UK lithium ion recycling facility.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Ecobat said it covers the collection and recycling of VW’s EV batteries and collection of high-voltage batteries from dealers, distributors, and end-of-life recycling centers using Ecobat’s ADR compliant vehicles.
ADR is a set of guidelines and processes that businesses must follow when transporting dangerous goods by road.
Ecobat has a longstanding relationship with VW UK dating back to 2014 when it started collecting lead acid batteries for TPS — VW’s parts provider to the independent motor trade.
The contract was expanded in 2019, when Ecobat started working with high-voltage batteries. Since the company opened its Diagnostics and Disassembly Centre in Darlaston, in the West Midlands, it has processed and upgraded thousands of batteries.
Elliott Ethridge, Ecobat’s VP of global sales, said the firm’s lithium recycling operations can handle scrap, by-products, end-of-life and damaged products.
The UK is home to Ecobat’s third lithium ion recycling facility after those in Germany and Arizona — the commissioning of which was announced last month.
Ethridge said then Ecobat had a long history in lead recycling worldwide, but added: “It makes sense to go into lithium now, but we don’t see lead diminishing. We see lithium coming on to augment a lot of spaces that lead doesn’t serve.”
