News

The Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (President: Akira Takeuchi; Capital: 119.4 billion yen) announced today that its Metals company established MM Metal Recycling B.V. (hereafter, the "New Company") at Moerdijk, Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands to expand the collection of E-Scrap^*1 from the European region. The New Company will also build an E-Scrap center for receiving, inspecting, and sampling E-Scrap and other operations by investing approximately 4 billion yen in total.

The New Company was established as a joint venture, in which Mitsubishi Materials Corporation has a 90% equity stake and Hanwa Co., Ltd. (President: Hironari Furukawa; Capital: 45.6 billion yen) has a 10% equity stake. Operations from reception to sampling of E-Scrap will be undertaken at the new E-Scrap center, which will significantly shorten the period for valuation of E-Scrap and enable us to respond to customer needs for speedy results of valuation. The E-Scrap center is planned to be completed in the spring of 2017.

Taking advantage of the Mitsubishi Process for continuous copper smelting^*2, a unique technology for smelting metals with the lowest environmental impact in the industry, we had been promoting the expansion of E-Scrap receiving and processing capacity over the last several years. As a result of the completion of facility expansion at the Naoshima Smelter and Refinery on April 12 in this year, the combined E-Scrap receiving and processing capacity of Naoshima Smelter and Refinery and Onahama Smelting and Refining Co., Ltd., subsidiary of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation, is now approximately 140,000 tons per year (increased by around 30,000 tons from the previous capacity), and is ranked top in the world.

At the same time of expanding E-Scrap receiving and processing capacity, we also focus our efforts on collecting E-Scrap from overseas. In July 2014, we established a department for E-Scrap recycling business within Mitsubishi Materials USA Corporation to strengthen our E-Scrap collection system in the United States. Further, we will complete the E-Scrap center of New Company next spring as an opportunity to strengthen activities for collecting E-Scrap in Europe, which is one of the largest sources of E-Scrap. E-Scrap collected overseas will be transported to Japan, where valuable metals are recovered and recycled at our smelter and refinery.

Under Mitsubishi Materials Group's corporate philosophy of "For People, Society and the Earth," we aim to become "the world's leading business group committed to supporting recycling-oriented society through materials innovation, with use of our unique and distinctive technologies," in our long-term management policies targeted in the early 2020's. The Metals company will continue to contribute to the development of a sustainable society through the recycling of valuable metals in accordance with these policies.

*1

E-Scrap
Scrap containing valuable metals, typical examples of which are circuit boards among used appliances and electronic equipment

*2

Mitsubishi Process for continuous copper smelting
In this process, smelting furnaces, slag cleaning furnaces, converting furnaces, and anode furnaces are connected by enclosed launders, continuously producing blister copper from concentrates. This results in a facility that is compact, conserves energy and operates at a low cost. The Mitsubishi Process prevents sulfurous acid gas leaks, creating zero-emission processing plants with non-polluting systems that process efficiently unlike conventional processes, in which movement between the furnaces results in the unavoidable leak of sulfurous acid gas.

Overview of the New Company

1. Company name

MM Metal Recycling B.V.

2. Established

June 2016

3. Location

Moerdijk, Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands

4. Capital

15.4 million euros (approx. 2.0 billion yen)

5. Investment ratio

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation: 90%, Hanwa Co., Ltd.: 10%

6. Representative

President of the company is going to be assigned from Mitsubishi Materials Corporation.

7. Business overview

Receiving, inspecting, sampling, and shipping E-Scrap

8. Area

Approx. 30,000 square meters

9. Number of employees

Approx. 50

10. Main facilities

Receiving yard, sampling facilities, sample preparation facilities, shipping yard, and others

Related press releases

1. Press release by the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency(NFIA)
   http://investinholland.com/mitsubishi-materials-corporation-establishes-european-e-scrap-sampling-center-moerdijk/
   Mitsubishi Materials Corporation is promoting this project under the close cooperation with NFIA and the Brabant Development Agency (BOM).
2. Past press releases
   ①Completion of Second E-Scrap Center at Naoshima Smelter and Refinery (April 14, 2016)
   　http://www.mmc.co.jp/corporate/en/news/2016/news20160523.html
   ②Naoshima Smelter and Refinery Expands to World's Top-ranked E-Scrap Receiving and
   　Processing Capacity (June 25, 2015)
   　http://www.mmc.co.jp/corporate/en/news/2015/news20150625.html
   ③E-Scrap Recycling Business Department newly established in the U.S.A. (June 30, 2014)
   　http://www.mmc.co.jp/corporate/en/news/2014/news20140701.html