International Research Center for Sustainable Materials, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

    A special symposium on “Copper smelting: International trends and role for realizing the sustainable society” was held on November 10, 2015, at the Convention Hall in the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS). The symposium was inaugurated with an opening address by Professor Teruo Fujii, the Director of IIS. Nine guest speakers from government, industry and academia, including Mr. Takahiro Hagiwara from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), delivered lectures on the current trend of copper resources, latest technologies of copper smelting, and resource recycling technologies based on copper smelting. Over 200 people involved in the non-ferrous and recycling industries attended this symposium and enjoyed the lively discussion. On the next day, i.e., November 11, a plant tour to visit the Nippon Mining Museum and the Hitachi Metal-recycling Complex (HMC) of JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corporation was arranged for students and young researchers. The participants studied the advanced technologies used in copper smelting companies in Japan.