Recell.store and Zenith partner to drive circular economy for EV batteries

Recell.store, the UK’s first online marketplace for used electric vehicle (EV) batteries and part of the Altilium group, has announced a partnership with Zenith, an independent vehicle leasing and fleet management company. Together, the two businesses aim to tackle one of the automotive industry’s most pressing challenges: the safe and sustainable disposal of damaged and end-of-life EV batteries.

Under a newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), recell.store will collaborate closely with Zenith to manage batteries retired from its rapidly growing fleet of electric vehicles. The initiative is designed to maximise reuse, repurposing and recycling of batteries in line with the UK’s Waste Hierarchy principles, accelerating the development of a circular economy for battery materials and reducing the environmental impact of battery waste.

Zenith has long been committed to sustainability, with battery electric vehicles (BEVs) now accounting for nearly 50% of its corporate and consumer-funded fleet — over 28,400 vehicles — and 100% of its colleague car fleet. With around 100 BEV write-offs each year, the partnership addresses the growing challenge of responsibly managing end-of-life EV batteries.

“Together, we’re making it easier and safer for fleet owners to handle EV battery disposal responsibly and meet their ESG requirements, while unlocking second-life value and reducing environmental impact.”

Through recell.store’s digital platform, used batteries from Zenith’s fleet will be assessed for second-life applications, such as energy storage. Those unsuitable for reuse will be sent to parent company Altilium’s state-of-the-art battery recycling facilities in Devon, where critical materials including lithium, cobalt and nickel will be recovered for reuse in the EV battery supply chain.

As EV adoption accelerates, the scale of the battery waste challenge is growing rapidly. McKinsey estimates that over 100 million EV batteries will reach the end of their life over the next decade.

By partnering with OEMs, salvage yards, and fleet operators, recell.store is helping to establish a nationwide ecosystem for safe and efficient battery reuse, repurposing, and recycling.

Altilium’s proprietary EcoCathode™ recycling process can recover over 95% of cathode metals from EV battery waste in a form directly reusable for battery manufacturing. Compared to mining virgin materials, this process delivers up to 74% lower greenhouse gas emissions and 20% lower costs, helping to create a sustainable domestic supply chain for the UK’s transition to zero-emission transport.

“This partnership ensures we have the foundations in place to manage the asset responsibly on behalf of our customers, while setting new sustainability standards within the industry.”