Orzeł Biały S.A., headquartered in Piekary Śląskie (ul. Harcerska 23), describes itself as the market leader among refined lead producers in Poland and the largest company specialising in the recycling of spent lead-acid batteries. The company is registered in the Polish National Court Register under KRS 0000099792, and its shares have been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2007; its majority shareholder (74.13% of the share capital) is ZAP Sznajder Batterien S.A. Its operations build on the tradition of the zinc and lead mine and smelter in Piekary Śląskie, and the company regards the establishment of a battery scrap processing unit in 1981 as its starting point.
Its revenue is based on sales of refined lead and lead alloys obtained from recycling spent batteries and other lead-bearing waste. The company produces soft lead and several dozen calcium and antimony alloys, developed since its own refinery was launched in 2002 in cooperation with the Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals in Gliwice; customers are mainly manufacturers of automotive batteries in Poland and abroad. In 2011–2014 it carried out the largest investment programme in its history, comprising a new battery scrap processing line and a Research and Development Centre. Since 2010 the company’s lead has been registered on the London Metal Exchange as the EAGLE 9997 brand. Its integrated management system complies with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.
The process involves the mechanical separation of batteries into electrolyte, lead paste, a metallic fraction and plastics: the electrolyte is neutralised and converted into gypsum, the polypropylene is processed into regranulate sold to manufacturers of plastic products, and the paste and metallic fraction go to four furnaces equipped with gas cleaning systems and then to refining. Spent batteries are sourced through a nationwide collection network, and research and development work includes the processing of lead smelting slag and the desulphurisation of battery paste. As an IGMNiR member, Orzeł Biały represents lead-acid battery recycling and the production of secondary lead and lead alloys.