The lead segment’s sales was down by 15 per cent compared to 2015, which had its causes in a drop in lead prices and in lower production volumes. The recycling plants in France and Germany processed a total of 53,.000 tonnes of scrap batteries, 19 per cent less than last year.
The Zinc segment was down by 12 per cent. In electric arc furnace dust recycling, Recytech SA in Franz and Harz-Metall in Germany processed 83,535 tonnes of dust during the first half of 2016, compared with 73,900 tonnes in the first half of 2015. As a result, total Waelz oxide production at the two plants rose by 9 per cent to 34,884 tonnes in the first half of 2016 from 32,132 tonnes in the same period of 2015.
Norzinco processed 10,906 tonnes of zinc-rich materials, compared with 10,940 tonnes in the first six months of 2015, and zinc oxide production edged up to 11,714 tonnes in the first half of 2016, from 11,417 tonnes in the same period of 2015.
The special metals segment was down by 29 per cent compared to 2015. In the plastics segment, the total production of recycled polypropylene dropped by 15 per cent to 8,058 tonnes from 9,433 tonnes in 2015.
