Updated 29.3.24
The first lead-acid battery recycling plant has commenced operations in Mongolia by Electrochem Mongol.
The plant has a reported annual capacity for 7,000 tons, or 3–400,000 batteries, and will be able to deactivate and refine the lead and chemicals. The facility is in the Nalaikh district of the capital, Ulaanbaatar.
Mark Stevenson, technical director at Global Lead Technologies of Melbourne, Australia, supported the plant with consultancy. He told BEST: “It’s really great to see the smelter being built and to a very good standard, which has leveraged many of the best standards from around the world.
“The good news is that the country has the capacity now to handle all their arisings of used lead-acid batteries and produce refined lead. Hopefully the plant will be a template for many other countries around the world who don’t recycle and refine their ULAB arisings.”
Mongolia’s minister of road and transport development, Sandag Byambatsogt, said at the plant commissioning on Thursday the government will collaborate with private companies to establish a collection and storage system of spent lead-acid batteries.
A report by the Montsame news agency said at least 6,250 tons of lead-acid batteries are discarded every year in Mongolia. That is over 80% of the total.