There is no question about it: the lead industry must continually innovate to secure its ethical and actual permission to operate. Ever tougher regulations mean it must adapt to survive. The ever-increasing secondary lead production as a component of the total lead supply makes expansion of recycling capacity a necessity. Thus, the need to recycle lead batteries is undeniable. Firstly, it is a key battery material for automotive and industrial applications and has a crucial future in the developing energy transition for energy storage. Secondly, there is the imperative to safely treat this hazardous commodity that used lead batteries present. The formal secondary lead industry has an impressive record of improving its environmental performance over recent decades, but still suffers from being locked into pyrometallurgical smelting processes to convert lead compounds to metallic lead. ACE Green’s radical new technology provides ground-breaking hydrometallurgical recycling, achieved with no Scope 1 emissions, from a room temperature process. This transformative modular technology offers to significantly reduce issues around lead emissions from smelting, occupational exppsure and elevated blood lead levels, soil contamination and greenhouse gas emissions related to pyrometallurgical lead recycling, whilst still proving a commercially viable solution. The technology is already gaining traction from a number of new deployments, with many more under consideration currently on four continents. Whether an enhancement or replacement for traditional smelting, the ACE Green technology offers a brighter future for lead.
Presenters
Farid Ahmed joined ACE Green Recycling in July 2022 as Vice President for Global Strategy & Business Development, bringing thirty years of metals and battery industry experience including market research, technical, operations and commercial roles.
Prior to joining ACE, Farid was the lead analyst for Wood Mackenzie, leaders in commercial intelligence. As a regular speaker at the key lead industry events, he is acknowledged as a principal expert on global lead markets. Before this, Farid founded a business consultancy, focused on the metals industry, with engagements including market strategy and analysis, raw materials acquisition, speciality products, process development, product failure analysis, capital investment and expert witness.
Farid holds a BEng honours degree in Metallurgy from the University of Leeds and is a member of the Institute of Consulting.
