Establishing a Circular Supply Chain in Malaysia

Tanaka Precious Metals — a Japanese group that produces and recycles materials used in electronics and semiconductors - is looking to build an end-to-end precious metals circular economy in Malaysia as it seeks to localise more of the supply chain for materials used in the semiconductor industry.

The company already produces bonding wire in the country, with a manufacturing presence in Penang for more than 30 years. However, its recycling and refining loop still largely runs through Japan.

This means spent materials, used products and production scrap from Malaysian customers are collected and sent back to Japan for recycling and refining. These include items such as used bonding wire and production offcuts that still contain recoverable gold and other precious metals. The recovered metals are then reused in its products before being supplied to customers.

“In Malaysia, no refining company exists in terms of precious metals.”
Yasutaka Ihara, Director, Corporate Officer and Head of Sales Management at TANAKA, says recycling capacity for precious metals in Malaysia is limited. The company deals with gold and silver, alongside platinum group metals and other materials used in semiconductor applications.

TANAKA wants to be the first in Malaysia to provide that capability, although the company is currently unable to announce a specific timeline.

This article was published in The Edge Malaysia, and further details can be found below.
Read more (The Edge Malaysia)

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