Watercycle Technologies has secured £3m in grant funding provided by the UK government to establish a demonstration-scale manufacturing line capable of recovering and refining lithium from waste streams for use in electric vehicle batteries.
The funding has been awarded through the DRIVE35 Scale Up Fund as part of the government’s £4bn DRIVE35 programme, which is delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Innovate UK.
The funding will be used against a £6m, 36-month project called Recover, Refine, Recharge: Scaling Lithium Extraction from Wastewater for UK Battery Production (ReLiVE), which will be led by Watercycle Technologies and is due to begin in April 2027.
ReLiVE will design, build and operate a new pilot-to-demonstration-scale lithium production facility in the UK, using Watercycle’s technology to recover lithium from sources that would otherwise be treated as waste. These include industrial wastewater and lithium-bearing materials arising from battery recycling.
The recovered lithium will be refined into high-purity lithium salts suitable for use in electric vehicle battery production.
The project aims to demonstrate that battery-grade lithium can be produced reliably and competitively in the UK from circular sources, rather than relying solely on lithium mined and refined overseas.
The technology also offers an opportunity to recover valuable critical minerals that would otherwise be lost while treating industrial wastewater and reducing the environmental impact associated with its disposal.
The project will work with UK partners across the lithium refining, battery and automotive sectors to ensure the lithium produced meets stringent industry requirements and can ultimately be incorporated into cathode materials and battery cells.
“The government’s critical minerals strategy sets a clear goal to establish large-scale UK lithium production and reduce our reliance on imports,” says Ahmed Abdelkarim, co-founder and CSO of Watercycle Technologies.
“By demonstrating that high-purity lithium can be produced from circular, low-carbon sources here in the UK, ReLiVE can help turn that ambition into reality. It shows how British innovation can support the transition to zero-emission transport while building the strategic capabilities the country needs for a more resilient battery supply chain.”
