lead

A deal to process 1,000,000 lead batteries a year will allow ‘green’ recycling start-up Aqua Metals to run its new plant at near capacity from day one once it opens.

The US company, which is opening an electrochemical lead recycling plant in Nevada this July, signed a definitive agreements with North American replacement battery maker Interstate Batteries.

The lead industry in North America is facing some of the biggest threats to its existence as a perfect storm of extremely bad news and regulatory challenges come to a climax in the next few months, David Weinberg, legal advisor to Battery Council International told its 2016 annual meeting last week.

Weinberg, recognised as one of the USA’s leading environmental law specialists, said the PR storm was probably the worst he had seen in his 30 year relationship with the industry body.

A lead battery ‘cartel’ has been fined almost €4million ($4.5million) for price fixing during a ten year period in Belgium.

The six firms admitted their part in the cartel following the Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority inquiry.

The Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) will join forces with the International Lead Association (ILA) after its members unanimously approved the collaboration.

The ALABC membership agreed to the new relationship with ILA)], as well as the Prospectus for the 2016-18 ALABC research programme, at its semi-annual Steering Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 8th.

ALABC will remain a research body of the association, focusing strictly on fundamental research and battery science.  

It provides a mechanism by which all members of ILA will fund ALABC activities via ILA membership fees. 

It means all ALABC funding goes directly to battery research rather than splitting moneys between R&D and costly (yet successful) demonstration projects, said an ALABC spokesman.

The move allows for pre-competitive lead battery research and innovation to be conducted under a singular management structure.

The prospectus was launched in June (read more on the story here) to collate the major research areas determined by ALABC membership (through recent ILAB meetings in North America and Europe).

The ALABC is now inviting all lead producers, battery manufacturers, component suppliers, carbon producers, application providers, research institutions and any other entities with an interest in the lead battery market to join its 2016-18 program.