Pb2017

The 20th International Lead Conference, Pb2017, took place in Berlin, Germany, 28-30 June 2017.

Building on the success of Pb2015, the event attracted over 150 delegates from 30 countries. Over the course of two days attendees explored the future landscape for the lead and lead battery industries and considered how to ensure their long-term prosperity in a changing world.

Topics covered included:

• Market trends and forecasts for lead and lead batteries
• Understanding future technical developments in lead batteries and the implications for lead producers
• How the lead industry can reduce the environmental footprint of lead and lead batteries
• Changing perceptions of lead products through reputation management and proactive communications
• Adapting to the future global regulatory environment facing the lead industry.

Opening the conference, Andy Bush, ILA’s Managing Director reported that nowadays more than 85% of lead goes into batteries worldwide meaning the future for lead rests almost entirely on the future for lead batteries. In lead and lead batteries we have a material and an application that benefits society enormously, and yet the industry still spends much of its time in a defensive mode. But ILA is now starting to drive a far more proactive agenda, and central to that effort is ensuring lead and lead batteries get the positive recognition they deserve. Just as importantly, we must be prepared to contrast those positives to the challenges faced by other battery chemistries. Regulatory driven substitution of lead batteries, which are safe, sustainable, low cost and proven, for other technologies such as lithium ion with all the cost, safety, recycling and other challenges this brings simply makes no sense.

The presentations are available – please contact the ILA office for more details at: enq@ila-lead.org