Resource recycling

The global transition to a circular economy has accelerated in recent years. The DOWA Group considers material recycling to be its raison d’être. Through our unique recycling-oriented business model, we aim to make effective use of limited resources to contribute to the realization of a circular economy.
Today, with recycling becoming increasingly widespread, we aim to achieve a more integrated, long-term, true circularity. By employing new ideas and the technology we have developed thus far while coordinating with industry and society as a whole, we pursue quality in circularity.

The DOWA Group has built a unique recycling-oriented business model, and makes integrated, multifaceted contributions through a resource cycle and recycling that comprises “Consume,” “Dispose,” “Collect,” “Separate,” and “Manufacture.”
Specifically, our Environmental Management & Recycling Business collects products and other items that have reached the end of their lives and been disposed of. Working together with our Nonferrous Metals Business, they separate resources and regenerate them so that they can be used as materials. Through this process, they detoxify waste and recycle metal, reducing environmental impact. Once the materials are regenerated, our Electronic Materials Business, Metal Processing Business, and Heat Treatment Business use advanced technologies to further enhance the materials’ value, contributing to more advanced, more functional products such as automobiles and electronic devices. Fulfilling Japan’s national strategy of realizing a circular economy will require true circularity that goes beyond simple recycling. We believe that the Company’s recycling-oriented business model is an effective approach to achieve this goal.

At the DOWA Group we are working on effective utilization of limited resources through the three loops of our own manufacturing process, the manufacturing processes of other companies, and the waste generated by society. At the same time, as a social responsibility in resource recycling, together with striving to minimize the environmental impact at every stage of recycling, such as appropriate water treatment, detoxifying waste and reliable landfill, we are aiming for sustainable resource recycling that considers environmental conservation and energy savings, such as using heat generated in the treatment process as steam or electric power.

1. With in-house generation and usage, for waste generated in the” manufacturing business”, such as our smelting and metal processing, it is recycled in the “environmental business” and “nonferrous metals business”. Besides selling it as metallic material, we re-use it as raw material for our company.
2. Accepting and recycling scrap metal generated from the processes of manufacturing plants at other companies. In case it is from client factories that supply our materials or par ts, such thin gs as reusing theaccepted waste as raw material leads to a reduction of new resource inputs.
3. Recycling of used end products. Through electrical appliance recycling, automobile recycling and the recycling of small household appliances, used products widely recovered from society will be returned to society as metallic material again.

Centered on Kosaka Smelting & Refining Co., Ltd., a smelting and recycling facility, we are working to further strengthen our unique recycling-oriented business model, which combines our environmental business with the smelting of recycled materials. Our intention is to increase the amount of metals derived from recycling that are used in production through collaboration between the Environmental Management & Recycling Business and the Nonferrous Metals Business. To this end, we are moving forward with efforts that include expanding the collection of recycled raw materials, upgrading equipment at each plan, and increasing the types of metals we can recover.

The integration of the Environmental Management & Recycling Business and the Nonferrous Metals Business is a crucial step toward more robust resource recycling. Therefore, we are planning to enhance the pretreatment function of the Environmental Management & Recycling Business, which will allow us to ramp up the collection and treatment of recycled raw materials. In the Nonferrous Metals Business, we will raise efficiency by upgrading equipment, which will allow us to recover a greater range of metals.

The Group promotes waste reduction and proper waste management by reusing waste generated through its business activities and reducing product packaging.

While resource circulation is being advanced, there are inevitably certain types of waste that cannot be reused or recycled. In such cases, the Group ensures appropriate management of society’s waste by detoxifying waste through incineration and other treatment methods, as well as by operating safe and properly managed final disposal sites. These waste treatment businesses play an essential role in safeguarding public health and safety, and also serve as critical social infrastructure for strengthening resource circulation.

Through its waste treatment businesses, the Group will continue to provide safety and peace of mind to society.

Our Group has built a recycling-oriented business model that realizes a cycle from the collection of recycled raw materials to the efficient production of metals and the enhancement of their value.

Our Company has established a global raw material collection network spanning Japan, Asia, North America, and Europe. Through direct sales, flexible customer service, and accumulated know-how in material collection, we meet the diverse needs of our clients.

Competition for the collection of recycled raw materials is increasing globally. The quality of the metal being used in substrates is also decreasing as industries seek to conserve metal in substrate production.
We have responded to this by expanding our pretreatment functions to improve our handling of lowerquality materials and Increase in waste, as well as expanding our collection areas. As a result, our collection volume exceeded our Medium-term Plan 2024 target of 110 by 6 points.

In terms of spent catalysts from automobile exhaust purification, platinum group metal prices have decreased since fiscal 2022. With prices continuing to stagnate since then, there have been fewer shipments from recyclers handling spent catalysts from automobile exhaust purification. The decrease in distribution caused the Company’s own collection volume of spent catalysts from automobile exhaust purification to stagnate too. As a result, the volume of spent catalysts from automobile exhaust purification collected in fiscal 2024 was 68, far below the target of 140.

Spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are recycled at ECOSYSTEM AKITA (Odate City, Akita Prefecture) and ECOSYSTEM SANYO (Kume District, Okayama Prefecture). 
Spent LIBs pose a risk of electric shock or fire when they are discarded or dismantled, but our existing waste treatment furnace can be used to treat LIBs, even large ones, without dismantling them. Heat treatment enables LIBs to be deactivated more safely.
During the three-year period of Medium-term Plan 2024, we implemented recycling treatment of spent LIBs, primarily scrap LIBs from the processes of parties such as battery manufacturers. While the treatment volume grew steadily, it fell short of the target of 400.

Under Medium-term Plan 2024, the Group has increased our ratio of metals derived from recycling that are used in production (based on sales in the Nonferrous Metals Business).

The ratio of metals derived from recycled raw materials was 69% in fiscal 2024, an increase of 11 points from fiscal 2023 but short of the target of 70%. This was mainly due to the decrease in platinum group metal prices and the stagnation of our collection volume of spent catalysts from automobile exhaust purification from fiscal 2022.

Recycling is one possible way to promote effective resource use. However, this requires technology to recover metals efficiently as well as the technology and infrastructure for safely processing harmful and non-harmful substances generated in the recycling process. Recycling also brings with it other technological and economic issues that must be addressed, such as the need to create an efficient collection system for recycling raw materials and a means for addressing the labor requirements and costs associated with processing this wide variety of raw materials. Bearing this in mind, the DOWA Group is working to promote the sustainable use of metal resources while taking on the various challenges present in resource recycling.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have broad applications, ranging from mobile phones to electric vehicles, with demand on the rise. However, when these batteries are discarded or dismantled, they pose the risk of electric shock or fire, and the value of the metals that can be recovered from spent batteries is subject to market prices. For these reasons, a treatment method that is not only stable but can be continued over the long term has yet to be developed. It is our hope that we will be able to develop a safe and efficient system to manage the large volume of batteries that will be produced in the future. Our Group is further strengthening the competitiveness of our recycling processes and technologies to reliably meet the demand during this market formation phase.

Our Group recycles spent lithium-ion batteries at Eco-System Akita (Odate City, Akita Prefecture) and Eco-System Sanyo (Kume District, Okayama prefecture). 
Furthermore, DOWA Eco-System, which leads our Environmental Management & Recycling Business, has participated in the joint lithium-battery collection scheme organized by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) since October 2018. Both Eco-System Akia and Eco-System Sanyo are registered as battery recycling facilities under this program.

In November 2022, we successfully recycled cathode materials from spent automotive lithium-ion batteries after heat treatment through joint research with Akita University. In this process, we recovered cathode material components (black mass), which contained a certain amount of impurities, from the deactivated spent lithiumion batteries after heat treatment and reused them to manufacture new cathode materials. As a result, we were able to attain similar electrochemical performance to automotive LIBs on the market in electricity storage capacity and charge-discharge cycling stability. Moving forward, we are targeting on developing a process to control impurity content more efficiently while learning more about the relationship between the nature of cathode impurities and battery performance in detail. 

The DOWA Group operates a broad range of recycling businesses that deal with precious metals; home appliances, including discarded small household appliances; and automobiles. These businesses do not simply carry out recycling in isolation. Instead, we improve resource efficiency through a systematic treatment process that accounts for the specific characteristics of a facility in terms of technology as well as the geography and related circumstances of where that facility is located. The Group’s operating companies also collaborate with research laboratories and other departments involved in transport, analysis, and various other related areas of operation to utilize resources effectively. When necessary, the Group also works with outside sectors and partners in order to optimize the value chain. For example, we collaborate with steel manufacturers to recover metal from steel dust (secondary zinc raw material) and promote recycling of zinc using secondary raw materials.

One notable characteristic of DOWA’s business model is that it incorporates waste treatment in addition to recycling. Although we have devoted many years to improving our recycling technology and have worked to recycle increasing amounts of metals, there is some waste that cannot be recycled or reused with today’s technological capabilities. Since we possess facilities that are capable of properly treating and managing this waste, we are a vital link within the value chain that allows for greater resource efficiency, environmental conservation, and safety.

DOWA ELECTRONICS MATERIALS CO., LTD. received a supplier award from its customer, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Murata Manufacturing annually selects and awards a number of suppliers for their contributions to and cooperation with its business development. This award recognized how the DOWA Group and Murata Manufacturing have jointly created a resource circulation scheme to secure and utilize recycled metals through the recycling of metal resources.

As market needs for waste treatment and resource recycling diversify, we are strengthening collaboration both within and outside the Company in the resource recycling supply chain. In the lithium-ion battery recycling business, we signed a partnership agreement with Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. in March 2024 to build a supply chain for recycling spent lithium-ion batteries. 
By leveraging our technology and expertise—which minimize the risks of electric shock and ignition, destroy the energy storage function through heat treatment, and render organic solvents in the electrolyte harmless—we will contribute to establishing an efficient recycling flow.

Our Group is advancing verification based on UL2809, a standard for evaluating and verifying recycled raw materials used in products. Products that pass the UL2809 verification are objectively evaluated based on their recycling process, serving as a reliable indicator for those seeking to purchase trusted recycled materials.
In August 2023, Eco-System Recycling Co., Ltd. (Honjo City, Saitama Prefecture) completed the UL2809 verification for potassium gold cyanide. This was followed by the verification of conductive atomized powder produced by DOWA ELECTRONICS MATERIALS OKAYAMA CO., LTD. (Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture) in March 2024, and in August 2024, verification was completed for the copper rolled products (Y-CuT FX) manufactured by DOWA METANIX CO., LTD. (Iwata City, Shizuoka Prefecture). These products have traditionally used 100% recycled meals sourced from scrap as raw materials. In response to the growing awareness of the SDGs and the push for more diverse recycling products and services, environmental label verification based on UL2809 was conducted for these products, confirming the validity of their 100% recycled material usage. Our Group will continue to expand the use of recycled raw materials in metal products to contribute to the creation of a sustainable world.

To promote sustainable resource use on a global scale, it is also necessary to reduce environmental impact, maximize resource efficiency, and collaborate across national borders. Conscious of that, we utilize our unique set of resources, which includes recycling technology, infrastructure, knowledge, experience, and human resources, to develop metal recycling and waste treatment businesses not only in Japan but also in China, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Myanmar. In addition, in North America and Europe, which are our main sources of recycled raw materials, we collect these materials via our sales and sampling bases and recover rare metals at domestic smelters. Through these and other efforts, we have built a resource recycling system that is not only global but promotes environmental conservation.

The DOWA Group is participating in the Circular Partnership, which was launched to realize a circular economy based on the “Growth-Oriented Resource Autonomous Economy Strategy” of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Partnership will organically link organizations that are actively engaged in the circular economy, such as the national government, local governments, universities, and business and industry associations, and will study the measures that are necessary to realize the circular economy. Through these activities, we will collaborate with our partners and contribute to the realization of a circular society.

In September 2024, DOWA HOLDINGS CO., LTD. and National University Corporation Tohoku University held a symposium to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the DOWA HOLDINGS Endowed Chair that was established at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Environmental Studies (official name: Endowed Division of Environmental Resource Cycle Course; hereafter, the “DOWA Endowed Chair”). During this symposium, people from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Ministry of the Environment, and universities engaged in leading-edge research were invited to speak mainly about the circular economy of today and the future.