About ECOBAT

History and Formation of the ECOBAT Group

Although the ECOBAT name is quite new, the group is founded on centuries of experience in the lead industry with some of our smelters having historic links going right back to the 14th century such as our Braubach operations in Germany. ECOBAT brings some of the world’s most renowned lead operations together under one name, tapping into continuous innovations from these sites, making us the technology leader in lead production; benefiting our clients, employees and the environment we operate in.

ECOBAT is also proud to have all production facilities LME registered; including brands such as BBU, BSB, Eco-Bat, F, GAST and HJ ENTHOVEN, Revere, RSR, STCM and STOLBERG. These brands are characteristic of our core business and some were amongst the first to be registered by the LME and have been in existence for over 100 years.

Products and Services – Excellence Worldwide

Our core product, lead, is used across a wide range of industries including the lead-acid battery, building, chemicals and nuclear fields. Each of these industries has its own particular requirements, often demanding an in-depth understanding of the functionality of the product within a given application. Not only are we able to support these various applications, ECOBAT can offer high quality “superior products” such as bismuth-enhanced and SuperSoft® soft lead, alcium/silver and complex barium/ strontium alloys.

Importantly, we ensure that our production exactly matches the quality specifications required by our customers, whether this is for soft lead, lead alloys or any of our other products. Your benefit and guarantee from ECOBAT is a tailor-made solution for your business combined with comprehensive customer and superior technical support – part of our aim of developing personal relationships with our customers.

Our technology leadership provides us with a unique position in the market, not only allowing customers to source superior lead products from across the globe that are based on the latest research and findings, but to tap into our technical services as “one-on-one” consultants for your business. We are proud to list a number of internationally recognised specialists within our workforce, each of whom is recognised for their expertise in lead, lead alloys and battery technology, who work with our customers with the aim to improve your final product.

Besides our core product lead, we produce a number of other non-lead products, including sulphuric acid, polypropylene, sodium sulphate and gypsum as well as silver and we own four battery collection companies in Europe. In addition, our South African operations produce zinc, aluminium, industrial minerals, plastics and poly foams. All ECOBAT lead smelting operations are certified to the internationally recognised quality standard ISO 9001 and TS 16949.

Responsible Production – One Key Asset

“Leader in Lead” indicates to us of having a particularly important responsibility. Environmentally “focused” production is at the core of the development process of new production sites and when investing in existing production facilities. We are continuously improving the environmental performance of our operations by optimising the use of natural resources and energy. In this context, ECOBAT has committed itself to the highest international standards. All of our operations are certified according to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

Health and safety of our employees and all who come into contact with our operations is one of our core values. We are constantly reviewing standards and significantly investing in training, equipment and procedures to ensure that our plants are operating to the safest possible standards. In this context, all of our operations are independently audited and verified. Further, approximately 37% of our planned capital expenditure programme during 2011 is related to health, safety and environmental investment.

ECOBAT at a glance

  • world’s largest producer of lead
  • over 80 % of the lead production is recycled lead
  • 17 lead facilities located in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States
  • over 3,500 employees around the world
  • LME registered brands: BBU, BSB, Eco-Bat, F, GAST and HJ ENTHOVEN, Revere, RSR, STCM and STOLBERG
  • superior lead qualities: bismuth-enhanced and SuperSoft® soft lead, calcium/silver and complex barium/strontium alloys
  • whilst our principal activity is the production of lead, we also produce a number of other non-lead products, including sulphuric acid, polypropylene and sodium sulphate
  • QM system certified to quality standard ISO 9001 and TS 16949
  • robust health, safety and environmental policies which contribute to the sustainable use of the earth’s finite resources by closing the recycling loop (certification according to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001)