Exide to cease US battery recycling operations

Archiv – Exide Technologies, a US company that recycles batteries, says it will temporarily shut down its operations in Baton Rouge, laying off 132 workers. The company says it anticipates resuming operations in Baton Rouge “when market conditions allow”.United States } Exide Technologies, a US company that recycles batteries, says it will temporarily shut down its operations in Baton Rouge, laying off 132 workers. The company says it anticipates resuming operations in Baton Rouge “when market conditions allow”.
The company adds it will begin an “orderly ramp-down of operations” on April 1st. That process is expected to take about 90 days. Exide recycles the components of spent lead-acid batteries, reclaiming the recycled lead and plastic for the manufacture of new batteries.
’Exide made the difficult decision to temporarily cease operations at our Baton Rouge facility as a result of the slowdown in the economy and the related impact on the lead-acid battery markets and by extension, overall lead demand,’ says Joe Acker, Vice President and General Manager, Recycling – North America for Exide Technologies. ‘€˜While our plan is to resume production at Baton Rouge when economic conditions improve, we do anticipate this temporary cessation of recycling operations to rebalance the supply of recycled materials with manufacturing demand.’€™
In fiscal year 2008, Exide Technologies recycled sufficient lead tonnage to make the Company one of the largest secondary lead recyclers in the world. It says it is one of the few companies with the ability to manufacture and recycle lead-acid batteries in its own facilities.