WHITE METAL: turning lead into “gold”?
It goes without saying that French Ardennes company Métal Blanc hasn't literally turned lead into gold! It may not practise alchemy, but the company has established itself as a specialist in the treatment and recycling of lead-containing waste material. Taken over and since managed by Christophe CRESPIN in 2007, this SME now has around fifty employees and boasts an annual turnover of 50 million euros.
Recycling, industrial ecology and circular economy are terms we hear a lot these days. Terms that Métal Blanc has known and put into practice for more than 40 years. Based in Bourg-Fidèle, not far from the fortified town of Rocroi, the company specialises in the recycling of used lead-acid accumulators (automotive and industrial batteries).Today, technology and know-how make it possible to recover 98% of the components of a battery with a recycled lead rate close to 97%. And Métal Blanc has turned waste into a valuable resource. With years of experience in the industry, it has the know-how and skills necessary for the production of secondary lead ingots, which are 99.985% pure, allowing it to be approved on the world's leading non-ferrous metals market, the London Metal Exchange, with production close to 30,000 tons / year.
As an industry naturally linked to ecology, the company attaches major importance to the protection of the environment and intends to respond to this challenge by setting up a rigorous QHSE policy (quality, hygiene, safety, environment). Subject to the many (and changing) mandatory environmental standards, Métal Blanc anticipated these requirements. For several years, it has invested heavily in safeguarding and protecting its environment with, among other things, the modernisation of its two water treatment stations (one for rainwater and a second for industrial water) and its air filtration system, intended to filter lead particles present in the ambient air. In total, this amounts to nearly 3 million euros, out of a total of 13 million euros investment in this area since the 2007 takeover. As proof of its efforts, Métal Blanc is ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50001 and OHSAS 18001 certified.
Like Métal Blanc, other French Ardennes industries strive every day to improve their environmental responsibility. Numerous initiatives that focus on a circular economy are emerging, drawing an industrial landscape that has an increasingly cleaner ecological footprint.
By Ardennes Développement, the Ardennes economic development agency - ardennes-developpement.com