2025.10.03
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Connecting Resources to the Future — Mitsubishi Materials’ Vision for a Recycling-Oriented Society
"Used home appliances are reborn as materials for new products."
This kind of circular system is something we realize through our daily efforts.
Home appliances contain valuable metals such as copper, gold, silver, and platinum, which can be recycled even after use. Mitsubishi Materials Group has established Our Commitment: “For people, society and the earth, circulating resources for a sustainable future.” To achieve this, we are promoting the development of a “recycling-oriented business model” that recovers and reuses resources from waste, including discarded home appliances.
Our goal is a society where resources do not end after a single use, but continue to circulate repeatedly. By pursuing a “cyclical value chain”—from resources to products, through post-use recycling, and back to resources—we contribute to the realization of a circular economy.
This kind of circular system is something we realize through our daily efforts.
Home appliances contain valuable metals such as copper, gold, silver, and platinum, which can be recycled even after use. Mitsubishi Materials Group has established Our Commitment: “For people, society and the earth, circulating resources for a sustainable future.” To achieve this, we are promoting the development of a “recycling-oriented business model” that recovers and reuses resources from waste, including discarded home appliances.
Our goal is a society where resources do not end after a single use, but continue to circulate repeatedly. By pursuing a “cyclical value chain”—from resources to products, through post-use recycling, and back to resources—we contribute to the realization of a circular economy.
From Home Appliances to Rare Metals — Advanced Recycling Technologies Supporting Circulation
Mitsubishi Materials’ resource circulation is supported by the integration of its home appliance recycling business and smelting operations.
In the fiscal year ended March 2025, six plants operated by five affiliated companies* recycled approximately 2.61 million units of home appliances, reducing landfill waste by about 120 thousand tons.
From E-Scrap—waste circuit boards from electronic devices containing high concentrations of valuable metals—we recover rare metals such as platinum and palladium. These are essential materials for automobiles and electronic devices. To ensure international reliability, we have obtained LPPM (London Platinum & Palladium Market) certification.
* The home appliance recycling companies and their plants are as follows:
・Hokkaido Eco Recycle Systems Co., Ltd.
・East Japan Recycling Systems Corp.
・Kansai Recycling Systems Co., Ltd. (Main Plant, Second Plant)
・Panasonic Eco Technology Kanto Co., Ltd.
・Chubu Eco Technology Co., Ltd.
(This information is available only in Japanese on the website.)
In the fiscal year ended March 2025, six plants operated by five affiliated companies* recycled approximately 2.61 million units of home appliances, reducing landfill waste by about 120 thousand tons.
From E-Scrap—waste circuit boards from electronic devices containing high concentrations of valuable metals—we recover rare metals such as platinum and palladium. These are essential materials for automobiles and electronic devices. To ensure international reliability, we have obtained LPPM (London Platinum & Palladium Market) certification.
* The home appliance recycling companies and their plants are as follows:
・Hokkaido Eco Recycle Systems Co., Ltd.
・East Japan Recycling Systems Corp.
・Kansai Recycling Systems Co., Ltd. (Main Plant, Second Plant)
・Panasonic Eco Technology Kanto Co., Ltd.
・Chubu Eco Technology Co., Ltd.
(This information is available only in Japanese on the website.)
E-Scrap
Designing the Flow of Resource Circulation — Regenerating Used Products
To make effective use of limited resources, Mitsubishi Materials collects used products, disassembles and separates them, smelts them, and supplies them back to the market. Once these products reach the end of their life, they are collected again. By designing and implementing this process, we make resource circulation possible.
We also collaborate with the Renewable Energy business to supply clean electricity across our operations, contributing to GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction and the realization of carbon neutrality.
We also collaborate with the Renewable Energy business to supply clean electricity across our operations, contributing to GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction and the realization of carbon neutrality.
Introducing “REMINE” — A New Standard for Recycled Metals
In 2024, Mitsubishi Materials launched “REMINE,” the first recycled metal brand in Japan*, which specifies the recycled content in non-ferrous metal products. Combining “RE” (repeat/reborn) and “MINE,” this brand calculates recycled content in accordance with the international standard ISO14021 and is verified by a third-party organization to ensure a higher level of reliability.
We began selling "Refined Tin (Ingot)" with 100% recycled content and "Refined Lead (Ingot)" with greater than 99.6% recycled content. We have since added "Refined Bismuth (Ingot)," "platinum sponge," "palladium powder", and "tungsten trioxide,"— bringing the lineup to six products.
Through the supply of “REMINE” series products, Mitsubishi Materials Group contributes to the realization of a sustainable society.
* This is the first time in Japan that the recycled content of non-ferrous metals is calculated in accordance with ISO14021 and verified by a third party. As of December 2023, based on Mitsubishi Materials’ research.
We began selling "Refined Tin (Ingot)" with 100% recycled content and "Refined Lead (Ingot)" with greater than 99.6% recycled content. We have since added "Refined Bismuth (Ingot)," "platinum sponge," "palladium powder", and "tungsten trioxide,"— bringing the lineup to six products.
Through the supply of “REMINE” series products, Mitsubishi Materials Group contributes to the realization of a sustainable society.
* This is the first time in Japan that the recycled content of non-ferrous metals is calculated in accordance with ISO14021 and verified by a third party. As of December 2023, based on Mitsubishi Materials’ research.
Mitsubishi Materials’ recycled metals brand “REMINE”
Promoting a Sustainable “PMP (Product-Material-Product) Loop” Using Waste Printed Circuit Boards
Together with Panasonic Corporation, we operate a PMP loop, a continuous resource circulation scheme. This initiative recovers gold, silver, and copper from waste circuit boards in discarded home appliances and reuses them in Panasonic Group products.
This is the industry’s first* fully integrated resource circulation scheme. By eliminating the need to produce metals from ore, the scheme significantly reduces CO2 emissions. This initiative aligns with Japan’s Resource-Autonomous Circular Economy Strategy and the Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society, contributing to improved resource self-sufficiency and environmental protection.
Looking ahead, we aim to expand this scheme to other product categories, further advancing the circular economy and reducing CO2 emissions.
* As of January 17, 2025, based on Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic data
This is the industry’s first* fully integrated resource circulation scheme. By eliminating the need to produce metals from ore, the scheme significantly reduces CO2 emissions. This initiative aligns with Japan’s Resource-Autonomous Circular Economy Strategy and the Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society, contributing to improved resource self-sufficiency and environmental protection.
Looking ahead, we aim to expand this scheme to other product categories, further advancing the circular economy and reducing CO2 emissions.
* As of January 17, 2025, based on Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic data
Mitsubishi Materials believes in the potential of resources and continues to move forward as a leader in realizing a recycling-oriented society.
