Japan Seeks to Increase Rare Earth Metal Recycling

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--Trade trouble with China, coupled with the March 11 earthquake and tsunami as well as the on-going nuclear crisis and power crunch, are leading Japan to explore new rare earth metals (REM) options. Japan is a leader in electronics production and requires a substantial amount of imported REM. Eventually, Japan will secure stable supplies when it completes projects in Vietnam and India while reducing imported REM by at least a third. Until then, however, the resource-scarce country is turning to REM recycling.

REMs have various applications in many industries, especially the electronics industry. Many types, including neodymium, samarium and dysprosium, are used in lasers as well as in REM magnets. These magnets are a key part in many new wind turbine technologies. The Global Wind Energy Council estimates that approximately 160,000 tons of REM will have to be utilized in order to boost global wind power capacity to 400 GW by 2014. More than 93% of the world's REM deposits are in China. Last year, China announced that it would be cutting REM exports by 35% during the first half of 2011. China's decision has greatly impacted countries around the world, including Japan, which is pursuing other avenues to secure stable supplies of REM.

In wind turbine technologies, REM magnets aid in increasing conversion efficiency; this is the ratio between the useful output of a machine, which in this case would be the wind turbine, and the input, which is the wind. Wind turbines can utilize non-REM magnets, but conversion efficiency is significantly diminished, making a windfarm less effective. Japan currently has four major wind turbine manufacturers, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Limited (TYO:7011) (MHI) (Tokyo) and Fuji Heavy Industries Limited (TYO:7270) (FHI) (Tokyo), which manufacture a combined total of 4.4 gigawatts-worth of turbines each year. If the right subsidies, feed-in tariffs, and innovation are applied to wind power in Japan, the country has the potential to produce approximately 1,900 gigawatts (GW) via onshore and offshore windfarms. Wind power has proved steady and safe in the face of disaster. Kamisu off-shore windfarm, one of Japan's only two, survived March 11's tsunami and was back on the grid with little turnaround time.

Japan is estimated to have some of the world's largest electronics waste areas, and while recycling has been deemed expensive, the rising costs of REM are making it more viable. Showa Denko KK (TYO:4004) (Tokyo), Shin-Etsu Chemical Company Limited (TYO:4063) (Tokyo) and Hitachi Limited (NYSE:HIT) (Tokyo) are involved in REM recycling for various applications, and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (TYO:5711) (Tokyo) recently began researching REM recycling in association with Panasonic Corporation (NYSE:PC) (Osaka, Japan) and Sharp Corporation (TYO:6753) (Osaka, Japan). REM recycling is considered to be a new industry in Japan and is likely to expand in the next few years with the aid of government subsidies and new technologies.

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