ROME, Nov 23 Reuters Glencore has decided to build a pilot project for an electric vehicle EV battery recycling plant outside of Italy, but still has its eye on the island of Sardinia for a larger facility, the Swiss mining group said on Thursday.

Responding to a Reuters request for comment on a newspaper report, Glencore said that the decision to relocate the testing and demonstration plant away from Portovesme in Sardinia would allow for faster commissioning of the project.

Glencore said in May it was going to develop a recycling hub with Canada39;s LiCycle in Portovesme, where Glencore has other industrial sites, to produce lithium and other materials from the shredded material extracted from used car batteries, known as black mass.

But the two companies decided that the testing and demonstration phase of this project would no longer be done in Sardinia after the island39;s regional government refused to fasttrack an environmental impact assessment for it.

This development does not immediately impact the feasibility assessment of the larger hub project, Glencore said in an emailed statement.

The definite feasibility study is ongoing and remains focused on Portovesme. This initiative is important for our recycling strategy and aligns with Italy39;s objectives for sustainable industry development, the group added.

The Swiss group did not specify where it would build the pilot plant.

Italian business newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore said on Thursday that several…