RUNCORN scientists have announced they have successfully managed to extract a metal vital in the production of car batteries - from wastewater.

Researchers at UK-based Watercycle Technologies say they have secured a European first by producing more than 100kg of battery grade lithium from brine and wastewater.

The company - a climate tech spinout from Manchester University - claims this is a major breakthrough as the UK is keen to source critical minerals locally whenever possible.

The pioneering extraction process was developed at the company's pilot plant in Runcorn. It is hoping to scale up to multi=ton production in the next six months and produce high grade lithium carbonate crystals for use in car battery production.

Watercycle Technologies co-founder Dr Ahmed Abdelkarim said: 'These results mark yet another technological breakthrough by our DLEC technology, one of the first in Europe to produce such quantities of lithium carbonate crystals.

"We understand our customers' need to obtain this product more efficiently, so we've designed our end-to-end solution to meet this demand. With the ability to generate refined lithium carbonate onsite, our technology offers customers the ability to capture more of the value chain. We are now positioning ourselves to supply lithium salts at the ton-scale for OEMs and chemical suppliers.' ends