Many home appliances, computers, and other electronic devices are indispensable to our lives. Although these devices are discarded after fulfilling their roles, they are referred to as “urban mines” due to the valuable metal resources such as gold and silver contained within them.
Since the 1990s, the Mitsubishi Materials Group has been collecting E-Scrap, a part of these urban mines, from around the world and establishing recycling systems to make effective use of limited resources, thereby contributing to the creation of a recycling-oriented society.
The Group’s metallurgy business, which has been in operation since 1873, forms the backbone of these operations. We are taking on the challenge of solving social issues by leveraging the unique technological capabilities that we have cultivated over the years.
Through this special feature, we will illustrate these efforts.

The annual E-Scrap processing capacity of the Mitsubishi Materials Group is approximately 160,000 tons. This is equivalent to 20% of the approximately 800,000 tons of E-Scrap generated worldwide in a year. Since the E-Scrap market is expected to expand due to improved recycling rates, we aim to further expand our processing capacity to approximately 200,000 tons per year by the end of FY2031.

Electronic devices such as home appliances, computers, and smartphones contain valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper, platinum, and palladium. When these electronic devices are recycled, it is possible to recover discarded circuit boards called E-Scrap. E-Scrap is drawing attention as part of urban mining, and the amount handled is only increasing as the recycling rate of electronic devices improves. Mitsubishi Materials collects E-Scrap mainly from Japan, Europe, and North America, and its processing volume is among the highest in the world.

Sampling is performed to calculate the amount of valuable metals contained in the E-Scrap. The weighing, inspecting, and sampling of most of the E-Scrap collected in Europe is performed by MM Metal Recycling BV (hereinafter “MMMR”).
Crushed representative samples are flown to Japan and analyzed there to determine the purchase price. By conducting the entire process of sampling, analysis, purchase price determination, and payment in a fair, impartial, and speedy manner, we improve customer convenience and build relationships of trust. Sampling is objectively conducted by selecting the most appropriate method for each of the many different types of E-Scrap.

E-Scrap collected from all over the world is smelted at the Group’s smelters and recycled into copper and precious metal (gold, silver, platinum, and palladium) ingots.