ACE Green Recycling signs metal offtake agreement with Glencore
ACE Green Recycling (ACE), a global recycling technology and supply chain platform, and Glencore, one of the world’s largest natural resources companies and a leading producer and recycler of metals for the production of batteries, today announced they will enter a long-term supply agreement for recycled lead as well as key battery metal based end products from recycled lithium-ion batteries. This strategic partnership will help create a circular supply chain on a global scale for these high-demand materials, while reducing their environmental footprint.
The 15-year agreement allows for Glencore to purchase up to 100 percent of ACE’s products from four of its planned lead-acid and lithium-ion battery recycling parks being built in the United States, India and Thailand. The parks are expected to be complete by 2024. Once operational, ACE estimates these recycling parks will cumulatively produce 1.6 million tons of recycled metals containing lead, lithium, nickel and cobalt.
“Our partnership with ACE furthers our objective of creating a leading, global circularity platform for battery metals. These recycling parks will not only provide a unique domestic, but also regional solution for furthering circularity in batteries – both high and low voltage. The partnership will also support our ambition to become a net zero total emissions (scope 1,2,3) company by 2050,” said Kunal Sinha, head of recycling at Glencore.
Once operating at commercial scale, ACE’s recycling facilities forming part of this agreement are estimated to have a total annual processing capacity of 250,000 tons of LAB and 47,000 tons of LIB.
ACE’s first commercial LIB recycling facility is set to start up this month in Ghaziabad, India where it will recycle various battery chemistries such as Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NCM), Lithium Cobalt Oxide (LCO) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) to extract valuable battery materials. A second Indian facility in Mundra is expected to come online in Q4 2023 at the same time as ACE’s flagship plant in Texas, USA will begin operations. Both facilities are projected to process up to 100,000 tons of LAB and 20,000 tons of LIB annually by 2025.
