2022.07.07
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Special Feature : Tackling Urban Mining Vol.3
Actions from all standpoints will lead to the realization of a sustainable society
Representative Director Artist MAGO CREATION Co., Ltd.
Mago Nagasaka （Left）
Overseas Business Sect. & Domestic Business Sect. Recycling Business Dept., Metallurgy Div. Metals Company
Hayato Yamagata （Center）
MMMR Admin Sect., Recycling Business Dept., Metallurgy Div. Metals Company
Minori Furuhashi （Right）
Born in Fukui, Japan in 1984. In June 2017, he visited Agbogbloshie, a slum in Ghana,
and has since been creating art using waste materials. In August 2019, during his fifth visit to Agbogbloshie, he stayed for 53 days and established the first cultural center in the slum. His documentary film “Still A Black Star,” which covers this project, won the Audience Award for Best Environmental Film at the 2021 Newport Beach Film Festival in the United States. The film is currently being prepared for release.
Making Agbogbloshie a sustainable town
Furuhashi
As someone who is involved in the E-Scrap recycling business, I’m very interested in your activities making art from e-waste. How did you get involved with Agbogbloshie in the first place?
Nagasaka
When I was thinking about what I could do to contribute to sustainability, I read in a magazine that waste was being dumped in developing countries. And when I heard about Agbogbloshie in Ghana, my instincts told me that that was the place to go.The first time I saw Agbogbloshie, I couldn’t believe it was the same earth. I felt like I’d wandered into a different world that transcended space and time. Seeing people burning e-waste in the open and extracting metals while breathing toxic fumes, I decided that what I could do was to tell the world about this situation through art.
Yamagata
How did you build a relationship of trust with your local colleagues? We have customers who deal in E-Scrap all over the world, but I feel it is not so easy to build close relationships with people from different backgrounds.
Nagasaka
As I went back many times to establish a private school and museum, and as we all worked together to create an artwork called the “Moon Tower,” the tribal chief recognized our efforts, and more and more people joined us. Perhaps I was able to convey my determination to spend my life trying to solve these problems.
Yamagata
We also make a point of visiting both our domestic and overseas customers’ yards to see what kind of E-Scrap they are dealing with and to discuss business with them while looking at the materials. We also make presentations on how our smelter and refinery works in the hopes that the customers will become fans of our company.
I want you to use your technological capabilities to solve social issues
Furuhashi
We are working to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society through the power of recycling technology. Mr. Nagasaka, from your point of view, how do you see Mitsubishi Materials?
Nagasaka
I hope that you will continue using your advanced technological capabilities for the good of society. If we compare life in developed and developing countries these days, the developed countries enjoy a high-quality lifestyle that is 100 years ahead of developing countries. However, to realize a sustainable world in the future, it is necessary for developed and developing countries to come together. For this to happen, the developed countries need to turn around and pull up the developing countries. I think it is important for companies like Mitsubishi Materials, which has been refining its technological capabilities for many years, to propose solutions and show the way forward.
Yamagata
In December last year, we launched MEX. In addition to functioning as a communication tool with customers, this platform can also be used by customers for data analysis of the E-Scrap they delivered. Through MEX, we aim to become a closer partner to our customers than ever before, and in the process, we would like to increase opportunities to make suitable proposals to them.
Continuing friendly competition by taking advantage of each other’s strengths
Furuhashi
To solve social problems and realize a sustainable society, we need both our “power of technology and service” and the “power of impact and message to move people” that Mr. Nagasaka’s art has.
Nagasaka
As an artist, I want to have a meaningful impact on society. The money that I earn from the sales of my paintings will be used for projects in Ghana to improve poverty and environmental issues. A true sustainable society is one in which the gears of culture, economy, and social contribution are turning smoothly.
Yamagata
The unifying power of your art is inspiring to those of us who are also aiming for a sustainable society. Mitsubishi Materials has set a goal of increasing E-Scrap processing capacity to 200,000 tons per year, and we are promoting safe and secure recycling while complying with international standards and regulations. I will also ambitiously devote myself to this goal while envisioning an ideal future.
Furuhashi
Under our corporate philosophy of “For People, Society and the Earth,” the future that we are working towards is one and the same. Mr. Nagasaka, we look forward to seeing your future activities and will use them as a driving force for our own.
Nagasaka
There are many things that I would like to do to create a truly prosperous and peaceful world. Let’s make the most of our respective strengths and do our best.
