Yomiuri: Panasonic Subsidiary Develops Machine to Collect Copper from Semiconductor Factory Waste

Dow Jones07-23 09:41

Panasonic Environmental Systems & Engineering Co. on Tuesday announced it has developed a machine capable of collecting copper from liquid waste discharged by facilities such as semiconductor factories.

The company, a Suita, Osaka Prefecture-based group company of Japanese conglomerate Panasonic Holdings Corp., aims to promote the machine -- called "Rareloop" -- for use in the field of semiconductors and electronic components, which is now seeing accelerating capital investment due to the widespread adoption of AI.

Liquid waste generated during the manufacturing processes of semiconductors and printed circuit boards contains chemicals and must be processed as industrial waste. According to Panasonic Environmental Systems & Engineering, a client that used a Rareloop to process 1.5 cubic meters of liquid waste with a 2% copper concentration per day would be able to recover 10 million yen worth of resellable copper each year.

Additionally, if clients use a wastewater neutralization system, they will also be spared the costs required to dispose of their liquid waste as industrial waste, amounting to a savings of 12 million yen annually. This alone will allow users to recoup the 50-million-yen price of the Rareloop in four to five years, even after factoring in other operating expenses like electricity.

"We want the Rareloop to also be capable of processing nickel and silver in the future," said Shinichi Takasaki, senior managing executive officer of Panasonic Environmental Systems & Engineering, at a press conference held Tuesday.

The company aims to achieve sales of 5 billion yen by 2030 for Rareloop and related products, such as a chemical liquid being developed to quickly remove protective films used in semiconductor circuit formation.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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July 22, 2026 21:41 ET (01:41 GMT)

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Yomiuri: Panasonic Subsidiary Develops Machine to Collect Copper from Semiconductor Factory Waste

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