Recycling technology company, ACE Green Recycling (ACE) is announcing its plans to build and operate North America’s largest emissions-free and sustainable battery recycling park in Texas, USA. The 400,000 square foot facility will be able to recycle both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries when fully operational. These batteries are key elements in the automotive, power storage, telecommunications industry and portable devices like mobile phones and laptops.
The facility is expected to start its phase 1 of operations in the third quarter of 2023, starting with the recycling of lead-acid batteries using ACE’s proprietary emission-free battery recycling technology and followed with a lithium-ion battery recycling facility in proximity. When operating at full capacity, ACE expects the facility to process and recycle up to 100,000 metric ton of used lead-acid batteries and 20,000 metric ton of used lithium-ion batteries annually by 2025.
Traditionally, battery recycling is via the smelting process which involves operating at extremely high temperatures – often more than 1,000 °C – with the burning of expensive and polluting fossil fuels, producing significant greenhouse gases (GHG), and exposing workers to hazardous working conditions. Compared to smelting, ACE’s proprietary technologies for both lead-acid and lithium-ion battery recycling are fully electrified with zero carbon emissions and provide higher battery material yields while providing a safer workplace environment. ACE is also exploring opportunities for operating most of its key plant activities with solar energy to reduce the facility’s Scope 2 emissions.
ACE has identified Texas to locate its flagship battery recycling facility in the United States. With a growing population and easy access to an abundance of spent batteries from automobiles and other industrial sources, Texas is an obvious choice for ACE’s new plant.
Due to the lack of sufficient recycling capacity, the US is currently exporting a large volume of its scrap batteries to Mexico and Asia while importing battery materials back to make new batteries leading to a major value loss. By establishing a large operation in Texas, ACE intends to reduce America’s dependence on imports of battery materials and batteries from foreign suppliers that are often subject to adverse global supply chain issues.
“Texas sits at the heart of the world’s global energy revolution with key access to an abundant pool of top engineering and technical talent. ACE’s new facility aims to be part of that revolution and build a greener, more sustainable future for America,” said Nishchay Chadha, ACE’s Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.