STC
The Lead and Metal Recycling Leader

Metal recycling is an essential process to preserve natural resources and a more economically viable way to use metals. However, lead, and metal recycling can be considered a public health concern as the recycling industry is usually associated with a high level of occupational exposure and environmental emissions. Protection of the environment and workers’ health are the most important challenges of the secondary lead industry. Also, it is expected that government regulations regarding waste management and exhausted lead acid batteries disposal will become even more severe over the next few years.

This is where STC Italy comes in. The Italian Engineering Procurement & Construction Management (EPCM) company designs and supplies a full range of plants, services, and engineering solutions in the field of batteries recycling, lead production, as well as water and wastewater treatment for the battery industry. It provides the design and construction of complete recycling plants or single plant units (battery breaking and separation, smelting, and refining) with different options, from EPCM to turnkey projects.

The desulphurization of lead paste and, in particular, the innovative U4Lead process by STC leads to a more drastic reduction of the environmental impact while increasing the productivity of the subsequent lead paste smelting operations.

The company also proposes less energy-consuming technologies, including a Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) system that not only ensures consistent production cost minimization and productivity increase but the protection of the environment.

“Our main commitment is to exceed our clients’ expectations by offering the most efficient and eco-friendly technology in accordance with the Circular Economy Principles,” says Giorgio La Sala, CEO, STC.

Thanks to the ability to promptly identify and solve any technical issue of the clients, STC has developed new technologies over the years in different industrial fields, while anticipating the emerging necessities of the market through its avant-garde and farsighted vision. Some examples may be found in the proposed technologies protected by national and international patents, such as the U4Lead, which uses an amino compound, namely urea, as a chemical for the desulphurization of paste and electrolyte neutralization. Further, its Lead3 system leads to the production of pure nanostructured lead oxide recovered from exhausted lead acid batteries without the use of pyrometallurgy.

Beside the new innovative technologies, STC is still proposing the traditional ones, which include the pyrometallurgical process. An interesting example is its Rotary Furnace for the smelting of non-ferrous metal that, exactly like all STC products, is characterized by a simple and reliable design as well as strength and robustness. Its high productivity and lower energy requirement make this equipment a top seller in the lead acid battery recycling field. Furthermore, STC always proposes technologies for the reduction of water consumption in order to meet the Zero Liquid Discharge philosophy.

An interesting, successful story that is making a great contribution in favor of the European Green Transition is the MVR system supplied by STC to Monbat Recycling Serbia. The process aims at the production of heat for the evaporation of sodium sulphate solution starting from the adiabatic recompression of the evaporated steam instead of using live steam produced in a dedicated steam generator fed with natural gas.

Since the very first day of contact with STC, the company establishes a transparent relationship based on mutual trust and loyalty.

“The commitment to delivering work on scope, on time, and on budget matters the most to us. But what really makes the difference is our ability to be a partner that our clients can always rely on,” says Eng. La Sala.