The UK’s first recycling scheme for the batteries that are powering the ever-growing number of eScooters and electric bikes on the roads has been set up by a Bristol firm.
Eco Recover is a new division of EcoMove, which opened a flagship store in Bristol last summer to sell zero-emissions electric mopeds, bikes and scooters. 
It has teamed up with Midlands-based Fenix Battery Recycling to launch the recycling scheme for PEV (Personal Electric Vehicle) batteries across the UK and Ireland.
A pilot scheme is already underway in the South West aiming to provide a complete, reliable and eco-friendly battery recycling system for owners of PEVs.
In a first for the UK, the batteries will be recycled in the country rather than being shipped abroad. This will reduce the carbon emissions in the treatment process by reducing transport.
Until now, batteries from eScooters, electric mopeds and eBikes had to be exported to the US or Europe for recycling.
The pilot comes at a time of exponential growth in the take-up of PEVs. By 2025, it estimated that there will be 4m eScooters, 12,000 electric mopeds and 350,000 eBikes on the market, resulting in a huge – and potentially – catastrophic numbers of lithium-ion batteries going to landfill.
Under the new scheme, which aims to make lithium-ion battery recycling cleaner and more sustainable, PEV owners will be able to drop off end-of-life lithium-ion batteries at one of Eco Recover’s collection points.
The batteries will then be taken to Fenix Battery Recycling’s depot in the Midlands – the only UK-based lithium-ion battery recycling facility.
All collections will use 100% electric vehicles, further minimising their contribution to carbon emissions.
EcoMove CEO John Dorman said: “By joining forces with Fenix, our aim is to increase lithium-ion battery recycling in the UK and lead the way in sustainability within the green transport sector.
“Businesses in the green transport sector can provide their customers with a sustainable recycling solution and play a more active role in the management of the Lithium-Ion batteries they produce.”
Fenix Battery Recycling business development director Damian Lambkin added: “As Fenix is the only UK-based solution for lithium-ion battery recycling, our partnership with Eco Recover will provide a more eco-friendly recycling solution that does not require materials to be exported to the US or Europe for recycling.”
As well as lithium-ion battery recycling, Fenix will offer recycling for lithium primary batteries found in portable electronic devices, alkaline batteries and wet and dry NiCad batteries at its mixed-chemistry battery recycling plants.
Last year EcoMove received £220,000 from Bristol-based Triodos Bank UK under the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) to support its growth strategy that had been held back by the coronavirus pandemic and help pay for the refurbishment of the its outlet on Hotwell Road.
Pictured: Miles Freeman managing director Fenix Battery Recycling, left, with John Doorman, MD EcoMove
