New battery recycling facility breaks ground in Nevada

SAN DIEGO (Scrap Monster): Oakland, California-based Aqua Metals Inc. has broken grounds on a new battery recycling facility in McCarran, Nevada. The plant is expected to cost nearly $30 million and is expected to recycle lead acid batteries electrochemically.

Steve Cotton, chief commercial officer of Aqua Metals adds, “We have been delighted in working with officials from Storey County (Nevada), EDAWN (Economic Development Administration of Western Nevada) and the USDA Rural Development team, who all participated in and added greatly to our groundbreaking event.”

The new AquaRefinery battery recycling plant will be spread over 125,000 square-feet building. The first production from the plant is expected by around second quarter of next year. The plant is expected to achieve full operational capacity during fourth quarter of 2016. It employs patented AquaRefining technology which ensures higher product yield and better product at minimized operation cost. The new technology is expected to eliminate toxic waste and reduce permitting. Dr. Stephen Clarke, Chairman and CEO of Aqua Metals added that Nevada facility is the world’s first AquaRefinery.

According to the company, the proprietary AquaRefining technology reduces production cost significantly when compared with conventional smelting procedures. It uses electro-chemical process to produce lead from recovered batteries, mostly from automobiles. Furthermore, the company will use a water-based technique to an estimated 88 tons of lead per day.

Aqua Metals had purchased 11.7 acres of land for building the new facility at Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (TRIC) in McCarran, Nevada in June this year. The land purchase deal was closed with the help of a $42.4 million guaranteed business loan by the US Department of Agriculture.