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Hydromet

Lead Production

Lead Production
Lead Production

Hydromet installed a 10 tonne per hour battery recycling plant at its Unanderra NSW facility in mid 2006.

The plant is designed to process used lead acid batteries (ULAB’s) of which there is an estimated 90,000 to 110,000 tonnes generated per year in Australia. This amounts to approximately 7.3 million motor and industrial batteries. Hydromet is approved to process up to 36,000 tonnes per annum or approximately 2.4 million ULAB’s. At approved capacity of 36,000 tonnes per annum the Hydromet plant can recover up to 20,000 tonnes of contained lead per year.

The plant, considered state of the art battery breaking equipment, was commissioned in November 2006 and is capable of processing in excess of 40,000 tonnes per annum.

The company sources ULAB’s from a number of collectors/scrap dealers around Australia and has a positive effect on battery recycling eliminating environmentally unacceptable disposal of used batteries to landfill.

The recycling plant produces:

  • Lead metal (from the plates in the batteries) sold to secondary lead smelters both in and outside Australia.
  • Lead Oxide from paste used to separate the plates also sold to secondary lead smelters.
  • Both the lead metal and oxide are high grade feed for secondary smelters.
  • Polypropylene (plastic) from battery casings which is recycled by an established local recycler.
  • Waste acid which is being utilised in Hydromet’s chemical manufacturing businesses at Unanderra and Newcastle and which replaces acid normally purchased for the production process.

Hydromet has submitted a development application to relevant authorities to build a secondary lead smelter at its established Newcastle facility to convert lead recovered from ULAB’s at Unanderra to high grade lead metal and lead alloys where the full lead value can be realised.

HydroMet’s specialised services include:

  • Processing solutions to recover and recycle metal contaminants from a range of industrial residues
  • The manufacture of a range of metal chemicals for both agricultural and industrial applications. These include:
    • Zinc Sulphate
    • Cobalt Sulphate
    • Copper Sulphate
    • Lead grid
    • Lead Oxide.
    • Polypropylene
  • Immobilisation technology for the treatment of hazardous residues to immobilise the contaminant, enabling their safe and environmentally acceptable disposal to landfill.
  • Speciality chemical and 'toll' manufacturing capability.
  • Professional consulting services to evaluate treatment options for industrial waste problems.
  • Licensed chemical storage facilities.

Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling

Used Lead Acid Battery RecyclingHydromet processes used lead acid batteries (ULAB’S) at its Unanderra NSW processing facility.

The plant can process up to 36,000 tonnes of batteries per year amounting to 2.4 million motor vehicle batteries and containing around 20,000 tonnes of valuable lead for recycling. This accounts for approximately 30% of the total quantity of ULAB’s generated in Australia every year.

The company receives ULAB’s at Unanderra from a number of ULAB collectors/scrap metal dealers and battery retailers around the country. These ULAB’s are fed into a battery breaker which separates the lead metal, lead paste, polypropylene and weak acid into discrete streams ready for treatment prior recycling to secondary lead smelters, lead chemical manufacturers, plastics recyclers and with acid recycled to produce chemicals within the Hydromet group.  

Contact us

If you are a scrap dealer or landfill operator collecting in excess of 20 tonnes of batteries each month. We will be happy to make an offer for the ULAB’s and can arrange immediate payment on delivery to our Unanderra plant.

If you live in the Illawarra and have a battery you need to dispose of. We will be happy to accept the battery at the Unanderra plant to ensure the battery is effectively recycled and does not end up in a landfill.

If you are a community service organisation wishing to conduct a battery collection/recycling programme, Hydromet will be happy to assist in the programme and will pay market price for used batteries delivered to our Unanderra facility. 

See Our Services for a list of specialised services

Please call on +61 2 42 711822, email at office@hydromet.com.au or fill out an enquiry form and find out how HydroMet can be of service to you