Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic promote a sustainable PMP (Product-Material-Product) loop using waste printed circuit boards

January 17, 2025 - Mitsubishi Materials Corporation (Mitsubishi Materials) and Panasonic Corporation announced today that Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic's Lifestyle Appliances and Solutions Company (Panasonic) have jointly established and are operating a PMP (Product-Material-Product) loop, which reutilizes gold, silver, and copper recovered from waste printed circuit boards of discarded home appliances, primarily within the Panasonic Group. This PMP loop is the industry's first*¹ scheme to achieve consistent resource recycling, through which urban mine resources have been reused, reaching cumulative totals of 1.1 tons of gold, 33 tons of silver, and 8,100 tons of copper.*²

At a time when there is a global demand for more efficient use of metal resources and environmental protection, recycling-oriented manufacturing is critically needed, especially in Japan, where the self-sufficiency rate of natural resources is low. To achieve sustainable economic growth, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has formulated the Growth-Oriented, Resource-Autonomous Circular Economy Strategy,*³ aiming to achieve both economic development and environmental protection through the efficient use of resources and the promotion of recycling. In addition, the Ministry of the Environment's Fifth Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society*⁴ aims to create a sustainable recycling-oriented society, promoting waste reduction and recycling through efforts to recycle resources, reduce environmental impact, cooperate with local communities, and perform educational and awareness-raising activities, protecting the environment through the effective use of resources. This plan outlines a policy to double the processed amount of metal recycling raw materials by the fiscal year ending March 2031.

Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic have been jointly working to smelt waste printed circuit boards collected from home appliance recycling plants and repair sites nationwide, extracting gold, silver, and copper. This achieves the recycling of non-ferrous metals, which are reused for manufacturing within the Panasonic Group and for other purposes. Since its launch in 2011, this scheme has consistently managed the processes from collection to reuse of recycled raw materials, achieving consistent resource recycling. This PMP loop is believed to contribute to the realization of the nation's targeted vision. Furthermore, using the copper recovery under this scheme instead of smelting copper ores as an example, the cumulative amount of CO₂ reduction has reached approximately 33,000 tons,*² proving these efforts also contribute to CO₂ reduction. The copper recovered through this scheme is also used as a raw material for copper wires employed in the Panasonic Group Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, which aims to fully incorporate recycled resources.

Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic will work to expand end-to-end resource recycling management, from the collection of recycled materials through recycling to their reuse in new products, by utilizing the experience and know-how obtained through the establishment and operation of the PMP loop, in addition to efforts to raise broad awareness of non-ferrous metal recycling. Moreover, Panasonic will collaborate with a variety of partners in the future to establish schemes for new target items, contributing to the evolution of the circular economy and the reduction of CO₂ emissions.

The PMP loop is not only a resource-recycling initiative but also contributes to reducing CO₂ emissions, as it does not require the production of metal resources from ores. For example, the 8,100 tons of copper recovered through the PMP loop to date, instead of smelting copper ores, have resulted in a cumulative reduction in CO₂ emissions of approximately 33,000 tons.*²

Notes:
*1: Mitsubishi Materials and Panasonic data as of January 17, 2025
*2: Data as of December 2024
*3: METI's Growth-Oriented, Resource-Autonomous Circular Economy Strategy (Summary)
https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2022/03/20230331010/20230331010-1.pdf (Japanese Only)
*4: Fifth Fundamental Plan for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society (Summary) published by the Ministry of the Environment
https://www.env.go.jp/content/000242562.pdf (Japanese Only)

Mitsubishi Materials Corporation:
Corporate Communications Department
TEL: +81-3-5252-5206

Living Appliances and Solutions Company, Panasonic Corporation:
Public Relations, Corporate Planning Center
Email: las-pr@gg.jp.panasonic.com