Boosting the Recycling Base in Odate City, Akita Prefecture
- Completed Construction of the third Plant for Eco-Recycle -

September 30, 2024
DOWA HOLDINGS CO., LTD.

 

DOWA ECO-SYSTEM CO., LTD. (14-1 Sotokanda 4-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Capital: 1 billion yen; President: YANAI Yasuharu), a subsidiary of DOWA HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (same location; Capital: 36.4 billion yen; President: SEKIGUCHI Akira), has completed construction of the third plant that will double the treatment capacity of its subsidiary ECO-RECYCLE CO., LTD. (30-2 Doyashiki, Hanaoka-machi, Odate, Akita; Capital: 150 million; Representative Director: KAJIHARA Fumihiro; hereinafter, "Eco-Recycle"), with the overall goal of further expand the Environmental Management and Recycling business. After a trial, the third plant is scheduled to start operations in October of this year.

 

Eco-Recycle began operations in 2000 and has been engaged in the recycling of four kinds of home appliances (televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners) small waste electrical and electronic equipment such as mobile phones and game consoles, and office automation equipment. In recent years, in addition to these businesses, Eco-Recycle have also been engaged in the recycling of plastics, the pretreatment of various recycled raw materials for a group company, KOSAKA SMELTING & REFINING CO., LTD. (Kosaka-machi, Akita), and the treatment of municipal waste for local governments. The number of the four kinds of home appliances received has more than doubled since the start of operations, while demand for the recycling of small home appliances and the pretreatment of various recycled raw materials is expected to continue to grow with the building of a recycling-oriented world. In addition to responding to these recycling needs, the third plant has built with the aim of further improving recycling quality. As a result, treatment capacity of Eco-Recycle, including the four kinds of home appliances will be doubled from the current 2,500 tons per month to approximately 5,000 tons per month.

 

The third plant will improve the sorting accuracy of the insulation material (urethane) contained in refrigerators through dedicated lines equipped with the latest conveyors and sorting machines. For the future, there is the idea of recycling urethane as fuel, and will promote initiatives for decarbonization and enhancing resource recycling. Moreover, consolidating refrigerator recycling at the third plant will lead to improved recycling efficiency at existing plants, thereby meeting the growing demand for the recycling of small home appliances and the pretreatment of various recycled raw materials.
Furthermore, Eco-Recycle has been assisting environmental education mainly for elementary and junior high school students and will contribute to promoting learning by installing monitors that show the treatment process in real time in the visitor passage set up at the third plant.
 

The DOWA Group will continue to contribute to building a sustainable world by strengthening its Environmental management and Recycling business in Japan and overseas.

[Overview of the third Plant of ECO-RECYCLE CO., LTD.]
·Location : 30-2 Doyashiki, Hanaoka-machi, Odate, Akita
·Building area : 880m²
·Start of operation : October 2024 (planned) 
·Investment amount : Approx. 1 billion yen
·Main production equipment : Vertical crusher, magnetic separator, air separator, eddy current separator
·Treatment capacity : Approx. 99.2 tons/day
·Number of newly employed : Approx. 10 (at the start of operation)

 

[Overview of DOWA ECO-SYSTEM CO., LTD.]
1. Head office : 14-1 Sotokanda 4-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
2. Founded : October 2006
3. Capital : 1 billion yen 
4. Representative : YANAI Yasuharu  
5. Number of employees : Approx. 2,700 (DOWA ECO-SYSTEM consolidated, as of end of March 2024) 
6. Shareholder : DOWA HOLDINGS CO., LTD. 100%
7. Business : Environment and Recycling business (Resource recycling, Waste treatment, Soil remediation, Logistics, Consulting)

 

[Overview of ECO-RECYCLE CO., LTD.]
1. Head office : 42, Tsutsumisawa, Hanaoka-machi, Odate, Akita
2. Plant : 30-2 Doyashiki, Hanaoka-machi, Odate, Akita
3. Founded : December 1999
4. Capital : 150 million yen 
5. Representative : KAJIHARA Fumihiro  
6. Number of employees : 63 (as of end of March 2024) 
7. Shareholders: DOWA Group 67％ (DOWA ECO-SYSTEM CO., LTD., KOSAKA SMELTING & REFINING CO., LTD., ECO-SYSTEM JAPAN CO.,LTD., ECO-SYSTEM HANAOKA CO., LTD., ECO-SYSTEM AKITA CO., LTD., DOWA TECHNO RESEARCH CO., LTD., DOWA HIGHTECH CO., LTD.), Hitachi Global Life Solutions, Inc. 6.6％, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation 6.6％, Sharp Corporation 6.6％, Sony Corporation 6.6％, FUJITSU GENERAL LIMITED 6.6％
8. Business : Recycling of four kinds of home appliances (televisions, refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners) into products, recycling of small waste electrical and electronic equipment, recycling of computers and office automation equipment, recycling of various plastics