Honda to Begin Reuse of Rare Earth Metals Extracted from Used Nickel-metal Hydride Batteries before the End of 2012
Honda to Begin Reuse of Rare Earth Metals Extracted from Used Nickel-metal Hydride Batteries before the End of 2012
Honda to Begin Reuse of Rare Earth Metals Extracted from Used Nickel-metal Hydride Batteries before the End of 2012
Honda to Begin Reuse of Rare Earth Metals Extracted from Used Nickel-metal Hydride Batteries before the End of 2012

June 20, 2012 – Tokyo , Japan  (Techreleased) – Honda Motor Co., Ltd., which has been extracting rare earth metals from used nickel-metal hydride batteries at the plant of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co., Ltd. from April of this year, today announced plans to begin reusing the extracted metals before the end of 2012. Honda will pursue the recycling of precious resources by reusing extracted rare earth metals not only for nickel-metal hydride batteries, but also for use in a wide range of parts. Further, in disassembly process of used nickel-metal hydride batteries, Honda is considering efforts to recover any residual voltage from the used nickel-metal hydride batteries and use it as regenerative voltage for the disassembly process.

Moreover, Honda will strive to recycle rare earth metals extracted from a variety of used parts such as hybrid motors and lithium-ion batteries in addition to nickel-metal hydride batteries.

Concerning the recycling of resources used for its products, Honda has long been committed to the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) approach. For instance, Honda has been collecting and recycling bumpers that were removed from the vehicle as a raw material, selling functional used parts as reusable parts, recycling and reselling used oil filters, etc. In addition to the development of fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrid vehicles, Honda will continue strengthening its network which links to the reuse and recycling of resources in the effort to reduce the environmental footprint of the mobility society as a whole.