US lead-acid battery recycler Aqua Metals has announced record ingot production figures for three months of this year at its AquaRefining plant in Nevada.
The company said it had achieved “sequential production records” of AquaRefined lead as well as lead metal bullion in March, April and May.
US lead-acid battery recycler RSR Technologies has won the Sally Miksiewicz Innovation Award for R&D leading to production of its new Supersoft-Hycycle alloy.
The award was presented to the company at Battery Council International’s (BCI) annual convention in New Orleans.
Chinese battery maker the Camel Group has announced plans to boost investment in lead-acid recycling over the next three years.
The company said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange announcement it is set to spend CNY1.5 billion ($234 million) on building three recycling and production sites— one in the eastern Anhui Province and the others in the northeast and southwest of the country.
Authorities in China are being urged to shut down “substandard” secondary lead production facilities as part of moves to boost the recycling of lead-acid batteries.
China’s lead consumption largely depends on the use of secondary lead, the chairman of the China Industrial Alliance of Renewable Energy, Li Shilong, told the Shanghai Metals Market Lead Zinc Summit in Guangxi Province.
The head of US lead-acid battery recycling start-up Aqua Metals has admitted the firm is “significantly behind schedule” in its production plans.
Chairman and CEO Dr Stephen Clarke (pictured) said earlier this year that Aqua Metals, which wants to commercialise a water-based recycling process, was preparing for “explosive growth” in 2018.
Indian lead-acid battery maker Exide Industries has reportedly submitted plans to set up a third lead smelter at its plant in Haldia, West Bengal.
Exide is asking India’s national government for permission to install the smelter amid soaring lead prices, the Mumbai-based English language daily DNA reported.
Aqua Metals, the US start-up which develops green lead recycling technology called AquaRefining™, says its total revenues for the second quarter of 2017 were just $603,000.
If the company’s own forecasts are to be believed, it is going to have to “go nuclear” to achieve the ‘explosive growth’ (US$100M-$120M) revenue predicted by Dr Stephen Clarke, the chairman and CEO of Aqua Metals, in a recent statement.
The US Battery Council International (BCI) association and the China Battery Industry Association (CBIA) have teamed up to jointly represent the interests of the lead-acid industry.
“Because BCI and CBIA’s members comprise 70% of the lead-acid battery manufacturing companies in the world, this partnership will create a unified voice for the industry and allow both associations to better serve their members,” said Mark Thorsby, executive vice-president of BCI.
IBM, AT&T and Sprint have stopped exporting used lead batteries to Mexican recyclers.
The US technology and communication firms have concerns that battery recyclers in Mexico fail to meet adequate health and environmental standards.
The Chinese government is considering setting up a fund to subsidise lead producers using recycled lead-acid batteries.
Zhang Weiqian, analyst at research firm Antaike, said the government is likely to give the subsidies to large companies and well-equipped processors that are not running at full capacity.
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