ClimateTech startup Watercycle Technologies has secured £3m to help lead the charge towards net zero.
The University of Manchester spinout was co-founded by Dr Seb Leaper and Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim in 2020 to provide secure and sustainable supplies of critical raw materials.
The company designs and builds end-to-end mineral recovery and water treatment systems fit for a circular economy.
The grant will go towards a £6m project to establish a demonstration-scale manufacturing line capable of recovering and refining lithium from waste streams for use in electric vehicle batteries.
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Lithium is identified as a critical mineral by the UK Government, and demand is expected to increase substantially as electric vehicle and domestic battery manufacturing grows.
The UK currently has no significant domestic lithium refining capacity and remains heavily reliant on imported lithium chemicals.
The funding has been awarded through the DRIVE35 Scale Up Fund, as part of the UK Government’s £4bn DRIVE35 programme, delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in partnership with the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Innovate UK.
The 36-month project – known a Recover, Refine, Recharge: Scaling Lithium Extraction from Wastewater for UK Battery Production (ReLiVE) – will be led by Watercycle Technologies and is due to begin in April 2027.
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.
By demonstrating lithium recovery and refining at a larger scale, ReLiVE aims to provide a route towards domestic production that is more circular, traceable and lower carbon.
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.
Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim, co-founder and CSO of Watercycle Technologies, said: “ReLiVE directly supports the UK’s ambition to build a secure, domestic supply of battery-grade lithium. The Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy sets a clear goal to establish large-scale UK lithium production and reduce our reliance on imports.
“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.”
Ian Constance, chief executive at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, said: “Through DRIVE35, we are supporting businesses to move promising technologies to commercial deployment and manufacturing at scale.”
The project represents a significant step in scaling Watercycle’s technology from pilot operations towards commercial lithium production and will demonstrate a circular approach to lithium refining at a scale not yet seen in the UK.