Japanese automaker Toyota plans to build a recycling plant in the UK to process spent electric vehicle batteries.
The Toyota Circular Factory will be located in Burnaston in Derbyshire, UK, the site of an existing Toyota manufacturing plant which already produces Corolla vehicles.
In its first phase, the factory will be able to process 10,000 vehicles each year, recovering the nickel, cobalt, lithium, graphite and other battery materials, as well as recycling other parts of the vehicle.
"As a next step for the Toyota Circular Factory concept, we plan to roll out similar operations across Europe," Leon van der Merwe, vice-president of Circular Economy at Toyota Motor Europe, said. "And we're not stopping at our own facilities — we are eager to collaborate with other organisations who share our passion of circularity and commitment to carbon neutrality."
Toyota says it is committed to being fully carbon neutral by 2040 and having a 100pc reduction in carbon in its European vehicle line-up by 2035.
