Japan Recovered Rare Metal Drops by 37% in F2009

Japanese recovered rare metal volume from electronic materials decreased by 37% to 2,041 tonnes in fiscal 2009 ended March 2010 from fiscal 2008, according to Japan Catalyst Recovering Association. Japanese scrap generation, from which rare metal is recovered, decreased due to slower economy. The precious metal recovery from catalyst, electronic materials, dental alloy and jewelry was 395 tonnes as fiscal 2008.

The rare metal includes gallium, indium and selenium from electronic materials. The recovered gallium decreased by 12% in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008 while the volume reached 10 tonnes for 2 years in a row. The recovered indium from indium tin oxide increased by 11% to 250 tonnes. The recovered volume from solder decreased by 50% for lead and by 34% for tin while the recovered selenium from photoreceptor of copy machine increased by 50%.

The recovered precious metal from catalyst decreased by 11% to 48 tonnes in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008. The recovered gold increased by 24% to 35 tonnes. The volume was 30 tonnes for silver, 14 tonnes for palladium and 2.5 tonnes for platinum. The recovered volume decreased for silver and platinum while the recovered volume increased by 63% for palladium.

The recovered volume decreased by 14% to 1,599 tonnes for molybdenum, vanadium and tungsten in fiscal 2009 from fiscal 2008. The volume decreased by 12% to 698 tonnes for vanadium while the molybdenum volume was flat at 868 tonnes mainly from used catalyst. The tungsten recovery decreased to a sixth level of fiscal 2008. The recovered alumina increased to 11,578 tonnes in fiscal 2009 from 318 tonnes in fiscal 2008.