Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2021 to Question 153244 on Electric Vehicles: Production, what steps he is taking to support and grow the UK's lithium battery recycling capabilities.

In order to maximise the economic and environmental opportunities of the transition to zero emission vehicles, the UK Government is supporting the creation of a circular economy for electric vehicle batteries.

This includes supporting the innovation, infrastructure, and regulatory environment for a UK battery recycling industry, including reuse in second life applications (such as energy storage) and development of efficient recycling techniques to extract maximum value.

The Government has allocated £318m to the Faraday Battery Challenge which is playing a leading role in promoting the reuse and recycling of battery components. The Faraday Institution’s £10 million ‘ReLib’ (Reuse and Recycling of Lithium-ion Batteries) research project is developing the technological, economic and legal infrastructure to allow high percentages of the materials in lithium-ion batteries at the end of their first life to be reused or recycled.

The Automotive Transformation Fund has been designed to support strategic investments in the electric vehicle supply chain, the scope of which includes battery recycling facilities.