The Naoshima Smelter & Refinery plays a central role in the metallurgy business. Its E-Scrap processing capacity is world-class. The annual amount that it processes is equivalent to the weight of about three Tokyo Sky Trees (approx. 110,000 tons). Below, we will introduce some of the employees who are working hard every day to recover valuable metals from E-Scrap.

The Logistics Section is responsible for accepting E-Scrap, transforming it into copper, gold, and silver ingots, and shipping them to customers. We sum it up as “E-Scrap,” but different items have different properties, and not all E-Scrap can be treated the same way. Depending on the grade (metal content) and shape, sampling methods, the processing flow (the feeding process), and processing methods vary greatly. As a liaison between the smelting technicians and the Recycling Business Department at the head office, which is the contact point for E-Scrap collection, we handle various negotiations, including coordination of schedules and the amount of E-Scrap to be accepted. As a result, it feels very rewarding to maintain stable acceptance that contributes to smooth operations.
This year’s slogan for Naoshima Smelter & Refinery is “Evolving without fear of change – Into a smelter & refinery that can survive in the future.” Instead of being satisfied with the status quo, we will strive to enhance our receiving system in preparation for further expansion of processing capacity. Resources are gifts from the earth.
The importance of recycling to reuse limited resources without waste will become increasingly important in the future. We will work hard every day with the expectation that by increasing the ratio of E-Scrap in our smelting raw materials, we will have a superiority over other companies’ copper, gold, and silver as a clean metal in the near future and be able to publicize it to the world.

We determine the value of the E-Scrap collected from around the world through a process of weighing, inspection, sampling, sample preparation, and analysis. My job is to build a system for analysis. Analysis requires a high level of knowledge and experience. It’s not unusual for analyses of the same component to require very different knowledge simply because of different pretreatments or analytical equipment. While analyzers capable of measuring extremely small concentration ranges have been introduced in recent years, some analytical methods still require traditional manual labor and craftsman-like delicacy. In light of this situation, we aim to promote standardization through the establishment of a system that will allow anyone to conduct fair and impartial evaluations so that the analysis work does not become a personalized task.
We are also working to link our analytical processes and results with our information system. Through our internal network, it is possible to check at any time the status of E-Scrap registered on MEX, an online E-Scrap trading system released by Mitsubishi Materials last year, to see how far along it is in the process, from receipt of materials at the smelter to sampling and analysis. We believe this service will contribute to our world-class E-Scrap processing volume.

I’ve been involved in the smelting process since joining the company. Currently, I am in charge of production control at the Naoshima Smelter & Refinery, providing technical advice to on-site staff and coordinating between production sections for overall optimization. Mitsubishi Materials is aiming to expand its E-Scrap processing volume, but partly due to soaring prices of precious metals, there is a lot of competition for recycled raw materials such as E-Scrap. To further increase our processing volume amid the increasing difficulty of securing resources, we need to offer the customers who supply us with recycled raw materials advantages that other companies cannot match. One of these is the rapid and accurate evaluation of recycled raw materials. Enhancing the system of sampling and analysis processes, especially with automation, will be key to doing so. In addition, smelting technology must be further improved to process a wide variety of recycled materials in a stable and low-cost manner.
In smelting E-Scrap, equipment is more prone to wear and corrosion and more difficult to operate than in smelting copper concentrate exclusively. To maintain stable operations of the equipment, we must tirelessly promote the development of technology. Although we have high technological capabilities, such as our proprietary “Mitsubishi Process” for continuous copper smelting, simply maintaining the status quo would be a step back. We will continue our unceasing efforts to maintain technological superiority.