The lead-acid battery recycling industry is a major polluter, spent batteries are incinerated with 18,000tonnes produced each year in the UK. There is the opportunity to use hydrometallurgical processes to reduce the carbon footprint by 85%, cut slag by >90%and recycle the plastics as well as the lead. The lead battery market, globally, will reach US$95bn USD by 2026, and with a continued demand for vehicles this will increase.
Nearly every fourth battery is a rechargeable lithium battery, most are embedded in electric appliances and with a growth in electric vehicles there is an estimated US$6bn opportunity from recoverable materials by 2030 and US$45bn second-life battery applications market. Currently there is no capability in the UK (currently being exported to Europe) providing a unique opportunity to provide a national capability
The lead-acid battery recycling industry is a major polluter, with 18,000 tonnes of spent batteries incinerated each year in the UK alone. There is an opportunity to use hydrometallurgical processes to reduce the carbon footprint by 85%, cut slag by >90% and recycle the plastics and lead. The lead battery market, globally, will reach $95bn USD by 2026, and is set to increase given the continued demand for vehicles.
Nearly every fourth battery is a rechargeable lithium battery. Most are embedded in electric appliances and, with a growth in electric vehicles, there is an estimated $6bn USD opportunity from recoverable materials by 2030, and $45bn USD second-life battery applications market. There is currently no UK capability for the recovery of these materials, with spent batteries being exported to Europe, providing a unique opportunity for Recyclus to establish a national capability.
Recyclus' state-of-the-art technology extracts the lead-acid paste using water, converting it into 99.99% leady oxide (Pb/PbO). Critically this process has zero sulphur oxide or nitrous oxide emissions, and cuts slag waste by >90% in comparison to existing incumbents.
This also supports the underlying economics of PbO production, which is currently $255 USD per tonne. The capex on this is 1/7th the cost of incumbent technology.
