Epson to Build Sustainable Metal Refinery with Atmix

Epson Atmix, a group company of Epson, announced it will build a sustainable metal refinery with an investment of JPY 5.5 billion. At the facility opening in 2025, metal waste will be recycled to produce raw materials for metal powder production. Atmix signed an agreement in July 2022 to purchase a factory site in Hachinohe, a city in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, and in the Hachinohe Kita Inter Industrial Park. Atmix recently held a groundbreaking ceremony and announced that the factory will commence operations in June 2025.

Will be carbon negative

Epson, as stated in its 2050 Environmental Vision, aims to become a carbon negative company free from underground resources by 2050. As part of its strategy, Epson intends to develop environmental technologies to recycle materials such as metals and paper, and to use the resulting technologies and solutions to create new business areas.

Finding metals will become difficult

Atmix anticipates that securing natural materials will become more difficult due to depleting underground resources and rising metal prices. The new facility aims to reduce risk through metal recycling to produce metal powders from recycled metal sources. The new facility, designed to recycle metals used in metal powder production, will be equipped with high-frequency induction furnaces for melting metals, AOD refining furnaces for removing impurities from metals, and casting machines for producing ingots.

Underground resources will be protected

Atmix will use this new facility to recycle unwanted metals from various sources including substandard metal powders generated in production processes, metal waste generated within Atmix, and metal residues and used molds discarded by the Epson Group. These scrap metals will be reused as raw materials for Atmix's metal powders. Natural materials such as high-purity iron will be replaced with recycled metal materials, protecting underground resources and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Implementation of a new refining process will enable Atmix to develop next-generation high-performance powders, improve their magnetic properties, and enhance amorphous forming capabilities. The new facility will be an important step toward achieving the goal of becoming a company free from underground resources by 2050.