November 28, 2025: Ecobat Resources has secured a 10-year permit renewal for operations at its lead battery recycling plant in California, which is understood to be at the center of potential sell-off talks.
The renewal by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for the City of Industry site was announced on November 21 and takes effect from December 29, provided there are no appeals.
The announcement came just weeks after Batteries International reported that negotiations for the potential sale of the three facilities Ecobat owns in the US — in California, Indiana and New York — were reportedly edging toward a conclusion.
In terms of the California renewal, DTSC said it had added specific conditions to both the final operating and post-closure permits to ensure long-term environmental and public health safeguards.
Conditions include a requirement for Ecobat to maintain over $50 million in financial assurances to cover cleanup or closure costs and hold annual public meetings to discuss environmental data and issues concerning the plant.
The company also must install a community air monitor near the facility, implement a soil sampling plan to study potential lead impacts and continue groundwater monitoring.
The plant, currently operating under a permit effective from September 2005, runs a secondary lead smelter that process lead acid batteries and other lead-bearing waste or materials.
There is also a wastewater treatment plant, battery wrecker building, and storage area where batteries are kept ahead of processing.
Last October, private equity investor Splitstone Capital said it was acquiring Ecobat Resources UK’s lead battery recycling business from the firm’s US parent company.
Separately, Belgium-based Campine has pledged to expand use of battery recycling and speciality lead manufacturing operations that it acquired from Ecobat in France earlier this year.
Meanwhile, industry observers say the US government’s backing for lead to be added to the nation’s list of critical minerals is seen as a boost for owners — or prospective buyers — of lead processing facilities.
