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Tropical Battery to recycle EV, solar batteries

Published:Friday | November 19, 2021 | 12:09 AMKarena Bennett - Business Reporter
File 
Managing Director of Tropical Battery Company Alexander Melville.
File Managing Director of Tropical Battery Company Alexander Melville.

Tropical Battery Company Limited will embark on a recycling programme for degraded electric vehicle and solar batteries in the first quarter of 2022, an initiative that Managing Director Alexander Melville deems as both financially viable and environmentally responsible for the energy-storage solutions supplier.

Tropical Battery’s announcement of a recycling programme for spent lithium batteries comes amid a network of organisations, including the government, coming together with policies and products to accelerate the pace at which consumers transition towards the greener alternatives in powering their homes, businesses and vehicles.

The number of vehicles that depend on electric charging in Jamaica is still below 100, but solar panel installations are becoming more populous in business places and residential units. Within a decade, it is estimated that there will be about 50,000 EVs on Jamaica’s roads.

Tropical Battery has not set a target on the weight of batteries it hopes to recycle annually, but says it will compensate customers bringing in spent lithium batteries for recycling with a five per cent discount on in-store purchases to customers.

The company currently offers consumers recycling lead-acid batteries – those commonly used in gas-fuelled vehicles – a discount ranging between $600 and $1,000 on in-store purchases.

“Solar panels normally last eight to 10 years, and they really only just started coming into the island, but there will be cases where people will need to recycle and purchase new ones,” Deputy Managing Director Daniel Melville told the Financial Gleaner.

The energy-storage solutions supplier is still working out the details for compensation of mobile response customers, as well as to expand its recycling programme offering to other battery products not sold by the company.

“We are really thinking bigger batteries, but it depends on the companies that we will be recycling with and what their capacity is. It might not be viable to ship small batteries, but as we get closer to a finalised state, we will be able to say definitely what we will take and what we can’t,” Melville said.

Tropical Battery itself does not currently retail lithium-ion batteries, but will, as of next year, serve as primary supplier of solar batteries for ENRVATE, a joint-venture company it formed in June with air conditioning distribution company CAC 2000.

ENERVATE will trade in energy-saving solutions in Jamaica and the Caribbean. The company, which is still in the start-up phase, will offer solar panels, energy-control and management systems to commercial businesses and mid-sized residential homes.

The company, which has operated in the automotive market since 1950, has over the years found the export of used lead-acid batteries a lucrative business, enough for the company to get better prices on battery purchases.

“Lead is one of the most recyclable material, as opposed to other alloys and metals. The lithium-ion batteries is not near as recyclable as the lead-acid batteries. There are many elements of the batteries that can be recycled, but it’s still a very costly process,” Melville said.

The St Andrew-based company is securing the requisite certifications and will export the spent lithium batteries to be recycled by a leading international recycling partner that recovers 95 per cent of the elements for resale to global battery manufacturers.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com