The company behind the venture is ACE Green Recycling, which plans to use the 400,000 square foot facility to recycle both lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, many of them from smartphones and laptops.
According to ACE, 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.
ACE said it 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.
Smelting, the most common current method for battery recycling, produces significant amounts of greenhouse gases, since it requires extremely high temperatures – often more than 1,000 °C – with the burning of expensive and polluting fossil fuels.
According to ACE, their battery recycling is fully electrified with zero carbon emissions, providing higher battery material yields while providing a safer workplace environment.
For the company, which already has operations across Southeast Asia and India, the Texas site will be its flagship battery recycling facility in the US. “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,” the company said in a press release.
ACE said that due to the lack of sufficient recycling capacity, at present the US is exporting much of its scrap batteries to Mexico and Asia.
By establishing a large operation in Texas, the company said it can reduce US 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," said Nishchay Chadha, ACE's co-Founder and CEO. “ACE's new facility aims to be part of that revolution and build a greener, more sustainable future for America.”