Kinotech.Inc
About Us
Message from the President
On September 1, 2021, our company was selected as one of subsidized project by NEDO Energy Conservation Department, titled as ``Program to promote research, development, and social implementation of energy-saving technologies to realize a decarbonized society (development of zinc recycling process from electric furnace dust using alkali leaching method)''. The project also passed the stage gate examination on March 27, 2023 (September 2021 to March 2026), and is moving forward with practical development (pilot test, total project cost 874 million yen).
In order to recycle Electric arc furnace dust (currently treated as a specially controlled industrial waste), it is mainly converted into crude zinc oxide, which is an intermediate raw material, using the Waelz method, and then turned into metallic zinc through an electrolytic process at a zinc smelter. The new Kinotech method (direct alkali leaching electrolysis method) is a highly profitable and compact plant that enables production of metallic zinc (equivalent to LME Grade) on-site within the electric arc furnace factory. We believe that we can contribute by exporting the technology of decarbonized zinc manufacturing methods to Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where zinc smelters do not exist. In April 2021, Chief Researcher Kenji Haiki joined our company, and in addition, former members of multiple nonferrous smelting companies joined our company as technical advisors, enriching our core human resources. We aim to conduct a pilot test operation in 2025 and establish the world's first electric arc furnace dust treatment technology using a wet method (caustic soda leaching method).
Kinotech.Inc CEO Shuji Mori
Greetings from the chief researcher
What do you think zinc is used for? Zinc is a metal that is often used in everyday life and is used for plating the bodies of automobiles to prevent them from rusting.
However, recycling of this zinc has not made much progress. This is because it cannot be recycled as cheaply as other metals such as iron, aluminum, copper, and precious metals. For example, recycling of iron uses 1/4 of the energy from ore, and recycling of aluminum uses 1/30 of the energy from ore, and progress is being made. On the other hand, recycling zinc requires more energy than producing it from ore, and it was actually cheaper to produce zinc by purchasing ore than by recycling. For this reason, recycling has not progressed much.
Therefore, I had doubts about the existing processing method, which uses a large amount of energy and requires the reduction reaction to be carried out twice, so I set out to improve this process by creating a process that would produce metallic zinc through a single reduction. Specifically, we developed a technology that simplifies separation from iron by dissolving electric arc furnace dust in caustic soda, and combines the reduction process into a single electrowinning process.
From now on, we would like to establish a zinc recycling method that is more economical than ore smelting, recover and reuse zinc from the many dusts that are landfilled around the world, and contribute to a sustainable environment.
Kenji Haiki, Director and Chief Researcher, Kinotech Co., Ltd.
Company profile
Trade name: Kinotech Corporation
Established April 4, 2002
Head office: 5F, Daini Toyo Building, 2-1-21 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-0027, Inside Fields Tax Accountant Corporation
Representative Representative Director and President Shuji Mori
Capital 64,597,903 yen
Transaction Bank: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Akasaka Mitsuke Branch
Shareholders: Real Tech Fund (unlimited partnership member: Real Tech Japan LLC), directors and employees of the company
Our team
Shuji Mori
Born in 1950
1974 Graduated from Keio University
Joined Marubeni Corporation and assigned to the Nonferrous and Light Metals Division
1982 Seconded to Marubeni Europe Company (stationed at London branch for 5.5 years)
1998 Seconded to Marubeni US Company (6 years stationed at New York store)
2004 Joined Powdec Co., Ltd.
2005 Joined Inabata Sangyo Co., Ltd.
2007 Joined Kinotech Solor Energy Co., Ltd., as Representative Director and President - present
Masao Otsuka, Director (general affairs, accounting, NEDO related), ex general manager of Mitsubishi UFJ Bank
Kenji Haiki, Director (Chief Researcher), ex researcher/engineer of Mitsui Metal Mining
Daisuke Nishioka Plant Engineer, ex engineer of non-ferrous smelting company
Kimiaki Utsunomiya Technical advisor, ex factory GM of non-ferrous smelting company
Kazuhiko Motoba Technical advisor, ex researcher/engineer of non-ferrous smelting company
Tomoki Katagiri Technical advisor , ex manager of non-ferrous smelting company
Yoshie Tamai Researcher/Analyst, ex researcher of chemical company research institute
Katsuhito Nishioka, Researcher
Masayoshi Isomura Advisor (energy saving/decarbonization related), electrical manufacturer alumnus
Tatsuo Ota Advisor, ex manager of a trading company
Yoshinori Takeuchi Advisor (intellectual property) ex electronics manufacturer and one of the founders of Kinotech
Yukihisa Kono Auditor Representative of Fields Tax Accountant Corporation