• Renewable Metals has signed a funding agreement with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) under the Advancing Renewables Program, providing A$4.15 million to support continuous operation of its commercial prototype plant in Kewdale, Western Australia, Australia's first hydrometallurgical lithium-ion battery recycling refinery, and the first global demonstration of alkali-based recycling at this scale
  
  

• ARENA's support complements the A$12 million oversubscribed Series A round announced on 15 April 2026, together funding the pathway from prototype to commercial-scale deployment
  
  

• Builds Australia's sovereign capability to recover lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese from end-of-life batteries onshore, moving beyond the current "shred and ship" model where Australian battery waste is exported as black mass for offshore processing
  
  

Renewable Metals, an Australian developer of next-generation lithium-ion battery recycling technology, has entered into a A$4.15 million funding agreement with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) under its Advancing Renewables Program. The funding will support continuous operation, and knowledge-sharing, at the company's commercial prototype plant in Kewdale, Western Australia, Australia's first hydrometallurgical lithium-ion battery recycling refinery, and the first global demonstration of alkali-based recycling at this scale.

Construction of the Kewdale plant is nearing completion, with commissioning targeted from mid-2026 and continuous operations through to early 2028. The plant will operate at an initial design capacity of 960 tpa, ramping to 2,000 tpa, generating sustained, near-commercial performance data to validate the technology and inform the design of Renewable Metals' first commercial-scale refinery, planned for the Hunter Valley, New South Wales.

The plant will recover lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese — all listed on Australia's Critical Minerals List — from end-of-life lithium-ion battery waste. Today, Australia shreds battery waste and ships it offshore for processing, predominantly to Asia. Renewable Metals' technology enables those critical minerals to be recovered onshore and returned to domestic and allied battery supply chains.

Renewable Metals' alkali-based hydrometallurgical process is differentiated from conventional acid-based recycling on several fronts. It processes all major lithium-ion chemistries (such as NMC, LFP, LCO) on a single production line with minimal sorting and dismantling, and handles all feed forms, including production scrap, black mass, cells, modules and whole packs. The process achieves more than 95% recovery of contained metals, recycles reagents and water, and produces no sodium sulphate waste, which is a significant cost and regulatory burden in Western markets. Combined with modular construction, commercial plants can be built at a fraction of the scale, capital and operating cost of conventional facilities, right-sized for emerging end-of-life battery volumes and scalable as the market grows.

The ARENA funding leverages Renewable Metals' recently closed A$12 million oversubscribed Series A round, led by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) through Virescent Ventures, with participation from Neglected Climate Opportunities, European Metal Recycling (EMR) and Climate Tech Partners. Together, the two sources of capital fund continuous 24/7 operation of the Kewdale prototype and de-risk the company's first commercial-scale facility, an 8,000 tpa Hunter Valley refinery being progressed in parallel under a $1.1 million NSW Government Clean Tech Innovation grant, and the blueprint for repeatable, modular plants deployable across Australia and globally.

The commitment from ARENA reinforces the role of domestic battery recycling in Australia's National Battery Strategy, the Critical Minerals Strategy, and the broader Future Made in Australia agenda — supporting the build-out of an Australian-owned, end-to-end battery materials value chain at a time when allied governments are moving rapidly to secure critical minerals supply outside China.

Luan Atkinson, CEO of Renewable Metals, said:

"Australia digs up the minerals the world needs for batteries. With this technology, we can also recover them from the batteries we've already used and keep that value here. ARENA's support, alongside our Series A investors, gives us the capital and partners to change that, and to build Australia's first commercial battery recycling refinery in the Hunter."

Peter Beaven, Chair of Renewable Metals, said:

"Battery recycling is currently dominated by China, and Western markets remain reliant on exporting materials offshore. ARENA's support recognises that Australia has both the technology and the resource base to build a globally competitive position in critical minerals recovery, and that the window to do it is now."

Darren Miller, CEO of ARENA, said:

“Recovering critical minerals from end-of-life batteries is important to Australia’s clean energy transition and to strengthening domestic supply chains. By supporting projects like Renewable Metals, ARENA is helping to de-risk emerging technologies, attract private investment, and build the domestic capability needed to recover and reuse critical minerals at scale.”

For further information please contact:
Luan Atkinson
CEO
luan.atkinson@renewable-metals.com

Acknowledgement of ARENA support. This Project received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program.

Disclaimer. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.

Forward-looking statements. This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions. Actual results, performance, or outcomes may differ materially from those expressed or implied. Renewable Metals undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements after the date of this release.