2030 - No new ICE cars to be sold

This article from the Telegraph Environment section is interesting. Currently there are no EV battery recycling facilities in this country and no plans to set any up. Batteries have to be shipped to Europe, where currently the processes used produces large amounts of CO2.

ENVIRONMENT

Britain ‘not set up’ for recycling car batteries
Lack of facilities to process lithium-ion cells shows UK ‘unprepared’ for green vehicle revolution
Emma GattenENVIRONMENT EDITOROlivia RudgardENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT
ELECTRIC car batteries are being sent to Europe for recycling, a study has revealed, amid expert warnings that Britain is not fully prepared for the electric vehicle revolution.

The UK urgently needs to establish its own battery recycling facilities to avoid paying to ship batteries to Europe and losing out on a multi-million pound industry as it makes the transition to electric vehicles, experts have warned.

Britain has no plans to set up its own recycling facilities for ­lithium-ion batteries, despite this week announcing a ban on new combustion engines within 10 years.

Any old EV batteries must instead be stored in the UK and then shipped to recycling facilities in Europe, including Germany, Belgium and Finland. Up to 75 per cent of the cost of recycling the batteries can go on transportation, according to a study from the University of Warwick. Sending batteries overseas also means the UK loses the valuable precious metals, which can be reused in new batteries, leaving it dependent on imports.

By 2040, there are expected to be 339,000 tons of EV batteries reaching the end of their life annually, according to the University of Warwick, with an average value of £3.3 per kg.

Caspar Rawles, of analysts Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said the UK needs to establish its own recycling industry “as a matter of urgency”.

The calls come amid criticism that the UK’s goal for phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles is not matched by plans for the necessary infrastructure.

Stephen Gifford, chief economist of the Faraday Institution, which specialises in battery research and development, said it would take three to five years to establish a recycling facility, from the point when the Government decided to give it the green light. He warned that without proper facilities, “in the worst case it might be difficult to transport battery waste overseas, and we will have a build-up of battery waste in this country.”

Although there are few EV batteries currently reaching their end of life, numbers will swiftly rise with the market in electric cars.

“There will be so much recyclable material that it won’t be safe to stockpile in the UK and then export to Europe,” Mr Gifford said.

“Plus, with the amount of EVs that are likely to be sold, it’s pretty crucial for the supply of raw materials that we don’t wholly depend on imports.”

Dr Paul Anderson, co-director of the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials, said current recycling facilities also produced large amounts of CO2 to process the materials.

“Ultimately, that route is not the decarbonised decommissioning that we are after to bring about the zero-emissions future that we want,” he said.

He added that the UK would need to step up its metal recycling facilities to match its green ambitions across industry and energy production.

Yes, it looks as though Orkneys and Shetlands are well organised. Some places seem to be much better provided for than others. I should have thought targeting high polluted areas, such as Manchester, Leeds, Bristol Etc.... would have been a priority, encourage more take up of EVs. 

Edit: interesting indeed Steve. It’s glaringly obvious that much of the rhetoric being spouted isn’t backed up by much in the way of strategic planning and necessary investment sadly. As a nation we are being badly let down by the decision makers, which makes it an uphill struggle to get the ordinary person committed, no matter how much they want to go green.

Here's a LINK to what happens with EV batteries.

This is on the BMW web site.

I've dropped out of this thread for various reasons but I look in so I'm adding something which I hope is helpful.

Scotland seem to be fairer, I wonder if the North could get independence?🤔. What was the rallying cry-there is no North South divide🤣🤣🤣. Even in EV charge points it seems there is🙄

Talking to a mate while walking the dog this morning who works for 'the electric board' .... even if we all had an EV, the electrical infrastructure just does not have the capacity to charge them all ..... it's already only just coping. So Boris could say we all have to use EVs next week ..... it's not going to happen any day/week/year soon.

Thanks for the link brue. It was very helpful. At the bottom of the article there is also another article covering 10 myths about electric cars which is also very interesting.

Our time will come Rocky. Where else will they choose to locate the ugly recycling plants............👍 under the guise of “job opportunities” of course. 😉 

t is just what i have posted several times ,with information from a neighbour engineer with national grid ,,he did also say the the massive outage last year in North London was a sign of things to come with the huge increases in power consumption at peak times,without what the greenies  want 

But then it seems a lot of the "north south divide?" is as noted by some Mayers more political rhetoric than fact 

If you are willing to take on our cost of living prices ,many of us "darn souf" would be quite willing to have yours

Thanks for the input JV🤷🏻‍♂️