In 2002, at the invitation of the Environment Ministry of the Dominican Republic, the ILA conducted an environmental assessment of the closed Metaloxa secondary lead plant in the Dominican Republic. The plant was a participant of a used lead battery recycling project implemented by the Basel Secretariat and the Regional Centre for Central America and Mexico (BCRC-CAM).
ILA found that basic environmental control systems were either missing or not operating correctly resulting in lead contamination throughout the site and nearby residential neighbourhoods.
ILA worked closely with the Dominican Government to locate and secure a new site in an Industrial Zone and design the new facility.
The new secondary lead facility complete with all the necessary ancillary environmental control equipment and a mechanical battery breaker began battery recycling operations under a new name, Meteoro, in 2011. The new facility has a lead production capacity of 18,000 tons per annum.
