ACE Green Recycling to supply Glencore with recycled lithium-ion battery components until 2037
ACE Green Recycling and Glencore plc will enter a long-term supply agreement for recycled lead as well as other 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 materials while reducing their environmental footprint.
The 15-year agreement allows 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.
Understanding the role batteries play in the shift toward global electrification and adoption of renewable energy, ACE has developed technologies to recycle batteries with zero Scope 1 emissions and extract their critical materials with minimal environmental footprint. The company uses a hydrometallurgical recycling processes for both lead-acid batteries (LAB) and lithium-ion batteries (LIB) with recovery rates higher than 99 percent and 98 percent respectively. ACE has developed a closed-loop and environmentally sustainable end-of-life solution for both types of batteries.
"We are delighted to partner with Glencore and together contribute towards making global electrification sustainable," says Nishchay Chadha, co-founder and CEO of ACE Green Recycling. "To safeguard a greener future, we need to create sustainable and localized circular supply chain solutions to ensure these critical battery materials are available indefinitely."
Once operating at a 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 facility in Mundra, India, 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.
"Our modular and battery chemistry agnostic recycling technology platform offers the flexibility to customize our solutions for both developed and developing markets," says Vipin Tyagi, Ph.D., ACE's co-founder and chief technology officer. "Along with positive ESG components and cost competitiveness, ACE's battery recycling solutions provide real-world commercial and social benefits."
