Battery maker Exide Technologies Inc. won bankruptcy court approval on Friday to implement a restructuring that cuts $600 million from its $1 billion in debt and puts the company under the ownership of senior lenders that have financed its stay under chapter 11 protection, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey signed off on the plan during a hearing on Friday, and approved the closure of Exide’s battery recycling plant in Vernon, Calif. Exide agreed to invest at least $50 million into the cleanup and demolition of the decades-old plant, which melted down lead from used car batteries to be used in the production of new batteries, as well as cleanup of the surrounding neighborhood. Exide is also in the process of cleaning up contaminated land, ground water and creeks near a lead recycling plant in Frisco, Texas that shut down in 2012.
