What is Urban-Metal?
1. What is Urban-Metal?
The plastic and fiberglass portions of printed circuit boards are removed through heat treatment. As a result, a mixture of metals and ceramic remain. We have named this compound
Urban-Metal.
2. Features of Urban-Metal.
2-1 Because the main content of the material is now metal, rather than plastic or fiberglass, shipping efficiency will greatly improve over raw or crushed boards.
2-2 Urban Metal complies with the Basel Convention.
2-3 Metal density analysis becomes easier because the material is now in a uniform state.
3. Why the need for Urban-Metal?
It grew out of our aim to comply with the Basel Convention-the international standard limiting the movement of waste material through national boundaries. The United States has yet to ratify the convention; however many nations, including China, are parties to the Convention.
The Convention places a prohibition on the shipment of wastes between member and non-member nations.
The EPA interprets waste IC boards not as waste, but as useful metals. Yet, this interpretation is inconsistent for the following reason: circuit boards, such as found in consumer electronics and personal computers, do contain hazardous wastes and thus should require a policy for treatment.
In China, waste circuit boards are designated as prohibited materials and thus subject to an importation ban. Due to the increase difficulty in exporting to China, material is instead being exported to India, and other offshore locations.
It is our belief that the United States, being a responsible nation, will eventually ratify the Basel Convention. There may have been no viable way to solve this inconsistency for the EPA, since it might have been nearly impossible to ban the export of waste IC boards; however the emergence of Urban-Metal solves the problems outlined above.
4. The Story behind Urban-Metal.
During a research tour of Silicon Valley in 1985, Dr. Koizumi had a dream of doing work related to the computer industry in the U.S. in what he felt was a very large country compared to his native Japan. 1985 was also the time when the PC era was just getting started. So he developed the idea of a new business to collect waste circuit boards for recycling. Nevertheless, Dr. Koizumi had neither the human network in the U.S., or the business capability to make the dream a reality. As an unknown, he felt he had to make certain preparations before doing business in the U.S.
Therefore, he returned to managing his own company, while doing post graduate coursework at a university and eventually received a doctorate degree. Then in 2008, he sold his company which had done waste treatment and recycling of fireproof brick for more than 35 years, to a large company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Additionally, Dr. Koizumi became acquainted with Mr. Nakamura, the president of Nankai Kogyo, during the Chicago Waste Expo in 2008.
5. A Brand-New Technology and a New Business Model.
Multiple business entities already existed to reclaim precious metals from waste circuit boards, so Dr. Koizumi thought a brand-new recycling technology and a new business model were needed for a newcomer to join the market.
5-1 The Present Method
Printed circuit boards are collected then shredded or pulverized for export to China, or other overseas smelters.
5-2 Problems
The shredding of waste IC boards improves shipping efficiency, but does not offer improved results in the final analysis by a smelter. Moreover, it takes an extended period of time to receive a final analysis because of the need to take multiple samples of the shipped material due to non-uniformity of the material. Furthermore, the sampling is conducted out of sight of the seller at a downstream location.
6. Our Proposal
Modern commerce moves at a lightening pace. It would seem abnormal to have to wait more than two months for a price to be determined. We are now able to offer a way to solve the two problems outlined above, namely, non-uniformity of material, and delayed analysis.
Urban-Metal is the answer. Because Urban-Metal is a powdered material, it is now possible to get a uniform, fair and speedy analysis.