ACE Green Recycling Signs Inter-Continental Offtake Agreement with Glencore

Houston, USA / Baar, Switzerland
5 December 2022

Global deal creates strategic partnership to support a circular and sustainable ecosystem for recycled battery materials

ACE Green Recycling (ACE), a global recycling technology and supply chain platform, and Glencore plc (LON: GLEN), 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. 

Understanding the crucial role batteries play in the shift toward global electrification and adoption of renewable energy, ACE has developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies to recycle batteries with zero Scope 1 emissions and extract their critical materials with minimal environmental footprint. By pioneering innovative 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, the company has developed closed-loop and environmentally sustainable end-of-life solutions for both types of batteries.

“We are delighted to partner with Glencore and together contribute towards making global electrification sustainable,” said Nishchay Chadha, co-founder and CEO of ACE.

“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 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. 

The global deal between ACE and Glencore will lead to expanded and improved battery circularity in both developed and emerging markets. With its cost-competitive, automated and sustainable solutions, ACE intends to bring a radical change to the processing and recycling of battery waste. 

Vipin Tyagi, Ph.D., ACE’s other co-founder and chief technology officer said: “Our modular and battery chemistry agnostic recycling technology platform offers the flexibility to customize our solutions for both developed and developing markets. Along with positive ESG components and cost competitiveness, ACE’s battery recycling solutions provide real-world commercial and social benefits.”

For further information please contact:

Glencore

Investors

Martin Fewings    
t: +41 41 709 28 80    
m: +41 79 737 56 42    
martin.fewings@glencore.com

Media

Charles Watenphul    
t: +41 41 709 24 62    
m: +41 79 904 33 20    
charles.watenphul@glencore.com

www.glencore.com

ACE Green Recycling

Investors

Aaron Wee                                                                      
m: +65 9008 9430          
aaron.wee@ace-green.com

Media

Meredith Matthews        
m: +1 281 770 2566    
meredith.matthews@ace-green.com

www.acegreenrecycling.com

Glencore LEI: 2138002658CPO9NBH955

Notes for Editors

About Glencore

Glencore is one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of more than 60 responsibly-sourced commodities that advance everyday life. Through a network of assets, customers and suppliers that spans the globe, we produce, process, recycle, source, market and distribute the commodities that enable decarbonisation while meeting the energy needs of today. 

Glencore companies employ around 135,000 people, including contractors. With a strong footprint in over 35 countries in both established and emerging regions for natural resources, our marketing and industrial activities are supported by a global network of more than 40 offices. 

Glencore's customers are industrial consumers, such as those in the automotive, steel, power generation, battery manufacturing and oil sectors. We also provide financing, logistics and other services to producers and consumers of commodities.

Glencore is proud to be a member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Council on Mining and Metals. We are an active participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Glencore recognises our responsibility to contribute to the global effort to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Our ambition is to be a net zero total emissions company by 2050. In August 2021, we increased our medium-term emission reduction target to a 50% reduction by 2035 on 2019 levels and introduced a new short-term target of a 15% reduction by 2026 on 2019 levels.

About ACE Green Recycling

ACE Green Recycling is an innovative recycling technology and supply chain platform for battery materials. We provide sustainable, end-of-life solutions for batteries, creating a closed-loop supply chain of critical materials. ACE achieves this by working with players across the battery ecosystem to create localized circular solutions to ensure critical battery materials remain within the countries generating battery waste. 

ACE recycles both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries with environmentally sustainable solutions and aims to assist the battery industry in making global electrification sustainable. Our team is committed to establishing new recycling industry standards for safety, emission reduction and efficiency.  
 
ACE is a U.S.-based company with dual headquarters in Singapore and Houston and employs a team of over 65 highly skilled professionals in the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia with a rapidly expanding supply chain network of more than 15 countries. 
 
linkedin.com/company/ace-recycling-pte-ltd/mycompany/ 

Disclaimer
The companies in which Glencore plc directly and indirectly has an interest are separate and distinct legal entities. In this document, “Glencore”, “Glencore group” and “Group” are used for convenience only where references are made to Glencore plc and its subsidiaries in general. These collective expressions are used for ease of reference only and do not imply any other relationship between the companies. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer collectively to members of the Group or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements regarding ACE’s technological capabilities and future business aspirations. All such statements are based upon current ACE expectations and involve a number of business and technical risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results described, implied or projected in any forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, regulatory approvals, unexpected changes in technologies, uncertainties inherent in technological development, scaling and roll out, intellectual property protection, and sources and availability of third-party financing.