ACE Green Recycling (ACE), an innovative recycling platform for battery materials, and Tabono Investments (Tabono), a leading investment company in Africa with experience in mining, logistics and recycling, have signed a term sheet to form a joint venture to build and operate two environmentally sustainable battery recycling facilities in South Africa.
Through the joint venture, the companies aim to bring radical change to the management of South Africa’s battery waste.
Liran Assness, Tabono co-founder, said: “Green energy is on the rise in South Africa and with it, battery usage.”
Reon Barnard, Tabono’s other co-founder added: “Without dedicated recycling facilities, the country is losing valuable materials like lithium and cobalt. We plan to take up this opportunity.“
The facilities will separately process and recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries utilizing ACE’s proprietary technology that creates zero Scope 1 emissions by operating without fossil fuel-based heating.
Both recycling facilities will be greenfield projects to be developed and operated by the joint venture. Under the new structure, ACE will have 51 percent ownership and Tabono will own 49 percent.
Nishchay Chadha, ACE CEO and co-founder, said: “We are committed to ensuring emerging markets benefit from our clean battery recycling solutions. Combining our expertise with Tabono will ensure development of safe and sustainable closed-loop solutions for battery materials within South Africa.”
Once established, the joint venture will leverage each partner’s strengths. ACE has developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies to recycle lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries and capture their critical materials at market-leading recovery yields. Tabono brings vast experience in the minerals and industrial services industries across Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.