February 28, 2025: Ace Green Recycling has agreed a lead and lithium tech licensing deal for battery recycling in Armenia and Georgia.

Ace said on February 19 it had signed two agreements to license its technology and supply battery recycling equipment to Armenian non-ferrous scrap recycler Mel Metal.

Ace expects to license its proprietary ‘GreenLead’ technology, in addition to selling and licensing its lithium battery equipment services for Mel Metal operations.

Ace said Armenia is a gateway to critical European markets and a location that can serve as a springboard for the company to deploy its services and develop commercial partnerships regionally and further afield.

As part of the lead battery recycling aspect of the deal, Ace will license its technology over a 15-year period. Mel Metal will buy equipment from Ace to process up to 6,000 tonnes of lead batteries annually, with the option to acquire more recycling capacity. 

In addition, Ace will generate revenue by selling and supplying proprietary chemicals for operations as well as allowing Mel Metal to use the GreenLead brand — with operations expected to start in the third quarter of this year.

Ace will sell and license its lithium battery breaking and shredding equipment and battery discharging system to Mel Metal — with Li recycling also expected to start in the third quarter of this year.

Armen Hayrapetyan, chairman of Mel Metal parent company the Edmet group, said the firm wanted to develop a more circular battery material ecosystem in the southern Caucasus.

Ace claims its technology replaces the smelting furnace, operates at room temperature, runs on electricity and has zero Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions (direct GHG emissions such as those made while running boilers and vehicles) and reduces solid waste by more than 85%.

Nishchay Chadha, CEO and co-founder of Ace, said without its technology and equipment in Armenia, scrap battery material would likely be exported or undergo a pollutive pyrometallurgical material recovery process.