Dive Brief:
- Due to new environmental protection policies announced by California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District Hearing Board, Exide Technologies could be allowed to re-open.
- If the battery recycler and manufacturing company makes some adjustments to its facility in Vernon, CA, the AQMD may authorize the smelter as operational again.
- Exide must install air quality control equipment that complies with newly-adopted standards. The company will also be required to turn-in monthly progress reports to the board tracking planned upgrades. The company must also drop the lawsuit it filed in opposition of the adopted standards.
Dive Insight:
The facility has been at a standstill since March 2014, when production was halted. The plant is one of only two facilities in the U.S., west of the Rockies, that smelts and recycles auto batteries. 25,000 batteries are recycled at the plant daily, which is approximately 8 million batteries annually.