News Japan's urban mining bonanza

[thomas]

As the price of gold rises, so does the interest in recovering the valuable metal from old circuit boards and other electronic waste in Japan. Japan lacks natural resources but has much potential for urban mining, extracting gold and other valuable metals, such as those used in electric vehicles and discarded electronics.

Photo credit: Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo​

One factory in Hiratsuka, near Yokohama, receives piles of circuit boards and jewellery daily. The scrap is melted down for gold and other metals, which are then shaped into bullion and other forms. Around 3,000 tonnes of materials are recovered annually at the facility, run by Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo. "We want to expand waste collection not just in Japan but also in ASEAN, where demand for electronic recycling is expected to grow," said Akio Nagaoka, who heads the facility. [...] The recycled supply for the full year is approaching 1,293.1 tonnes harvested in 2020 -- the highest figure of the past decade.

Recycled gold now makes up under 30% of the global supply. Only around 200,000 tonnes of gold -- enough to fill four 50-meter pools -- have been mined throughout history, according to the WGC. With output from mines stagnating, recovering the yellow metal from old smartphones, appliances, and other scrap is becoming more important than ever. Some businesses are expanding their capacity to collect and process such waste with an eye on growing demand. Mitsubishi Materials aims to be able to process 240,000 tonnes of scrap a year by the end of fiscal 2030, compared with around 160,000 tonnes now. Japan's Sustainability Design Institute estimates there are around 5,300 tonnes of accumulated gold in Japan -- equivalent to around 10% of global reserves. Around 280 grams of gold can be recovered from 1 tonne of, or around 10,000, mobile phones, according to Japan's Environment Ministry, making the process 56 times more efficient in weight than mining new gold.

Paywall alert:

Japan's urban mining boom picks up as gold prices rise

Businesses and government eye growing opportunities to turn e-waste into treasure

asia.nikkei.com