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Japan
Daikin-led compressor magnet recycling group
A four-company collaboration announced April 14, 2026 to recover NdFeB magnets from compressors of Daikin commercial air conditioners replaced in Japan: Tokyo Eco Recycle and Hitachi extract the magnets, and Shin-Etsu Chemical makes new magnets from them. Full-scale operation is targeted from 2027.
Points to check
Facts from the sources on this page that a reader should weigh before relying on the company's own figures.
- The companies have published no volume, capacity or investment figure for the scheme (joint release, Apr 14, 2026).
- The arrangement is described as a collaboration (co-creation); no binding contract terms have been disclosed.
- Automation equipment was still to be developed during 2026, and full-scale operation is a 2027 target (joint release, Apr 14, 2026).
- Feedstock is limited to compressors from Daikin commercial air conditioners replaced during repairs or overhauls in Japan.
At a glance
- Founded
- 2026 — Collaboration announced April 14, 2026 by the four companies; no joint company was formed. Tokyo Eco Recycle was established in December 1999.
- Headquarters
- No joint entity. Daikin: Osaka; Shin-Etsu Chemical: Tokyo; Hitachi: Tokyo; Tokyo Eco Recycle: Wakasu, Koto-ku, Tokyo; all Japan
- Ownership
- No joint entity. Daikin Industries (TSE: 6367), Shin-Etsu Chemical (TSE: 4063) and Hitachi (TSE: 6501) are listed; Tokyo Eco Recycle is private, with Hitachi holding an investment stake per Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (Apr 15, 2026).
- Stage
- Early stage. Collaboration announced April 2026; automation equipment in development during 2026 with full-scale operation targeted from 2027. No investment, capacity or binding terms are published.
- Listing
- Tokyo: 6367 · Tokyo: 4063 · Tokyo: 6501
- Revenue
- Not publicly disclosed. This company does not publish revenue and no named third party has published an estimate of it.
Capacity
Each date below links to the document the figure came from. A capacity figure with no source is not on this page.
| What | Figure | Status | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| NdFeB magnets recovered from Daikin commercial air-conditioner compressors | No volume or capacity published by the companies; HVAC&R News reported a goal of several metric tons of magnets a year, without attributing the figure to a company statement | Announced | Apr 2026 |
| Rare earth magnets recovered from hard disk drives (and from FY2018, MRI units) by Tokyo Eco Recycle for the Hitachi Group, prior capability | About 26 t of HDD magnets over FY2013-FY2018; about 25 t in FY2018 including MRI magnets (actual, per Hitachi Review 2019) | Historical | Apr 2019 |
Narrative
On April 14, 2026, Daikin Industries, Shin-Etsu Chemical, Hitachi and Tokyo Eco Recycle issued a joint release announcing the start of a cross-industry collaboration (described in Japanese as kyoso, or co-creation) to recover and recycle rare earth magnets from the compressors of Daikin commercial air conditioners that are replaced during repairs and overhauls in Japan. The companies described it as Japan's first domestic circular scheme for this stream, noting that household appliances have been covered by the Home Appliance Recycling Act since 2001 while commercial equipment has no equivalent collection framework. Under the stated division of roles, Daikin collects the compressors and supplies model information; Tokyo Eco Recycle, a Koto-ku, Tokyo recycler of home appliances, office equipment and medical devices in which Hitachi holds a stake, disassembles and demagnetizes them and extracts the magnets, working with Hitachi on AI image recognition and robotics because disassembly differs by model; and Shin-Etsu Chemical uses the recovered magnets as recycled material to make new rare earth magnets. Demagnetization uses a resonance-damping method that the companies say emits no CO2 directly, and data from collection, disassembly and quality evaluation is to be tracked in one system. The plan is to develop automation equipment during 2026 and begin full-scale operation from 2027, and to invite further participants, naming Hitachi Global Life Solutions. The release gives no volume, capacity, investment or contract terms and does not describe the arrangement as a binding agreement. On July 9, 2026, Daikin announced a separate comprehensive business alliance with Itochu on horizontal recycling of commercial air conditioners, under which rare earth magnets are among the materials to be added in stages; volumes are to be set in individual contracts.
Where public sources disagree
- Volume: the joint release (Apr 14, 2026) and Japanese coverage (Nikkan Kogyo/Newswitch Apr 15, MONOist Apr 30, 2026) give no tonnage, while HVAC&R News (Apr 21, 2026) reports a goal of several metric tons of magnets a year.
- Demagnetization method: the joint release presents resonance-damping demagnetization as part of Tokyo Eco Recycle's process step without naming its developer, while HVAC&R News (Apr 21, 2026) says Shin-Etsu Chemical developed it.
- Schedule wording: the joint release says equipment development in 2026 and full-scale operation from 2027, while HVAC&R News (Apr 21, 2026) says the group aims to launch the facility in 2026 and scale operations in 2027.
Sources
- Joint release: compressor magnet recycling co-creation (PDF) — Daikin / Shin-Etsu / Hitachi / Tokyo Eco Recycle (2026-04-14)
- Hitachi release (Japanese) — Hitachi (2026-04-14)
- Daikin release via Digital PR Platform — Daikin Industries (2026-04-14)
- Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun via Newswitch — Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun (2026-04-15)
- Mynavi TECH+ — Mynavi (2026-04-14)
- MONOist — ITmedia (2026-04-30)
- HVAC&R News: Circular moves for compressor magnets — HVAC&R News (2026-04-21)
- Daikin-Itochu horizontal recycling alliance — Daikin Industries (2026-07-09)
- Hitachi Review: HDD magnet recycling at Tokyo Eco Recycle — Hitachi Hyoron (2019-04-01)
- Tokyo Eco Recycle company record — Compalyze (2026-10-16)
How this page is sourced
Everything here comes from public sources — company filings, annual reports, exchange announcements, government releases and trade press. Every figure is linked to the document it came from and carries the date that document was published, because a capacity number without a date is not a fact, it is a rumor with a decimal point.
What is deliberately absent: material nonpublic information. I have spent more than two decades in this industry and a good deal of what I know about these companies I learned under NDA. Those obligations do not expire and they do not bend for a website. Nothing I have been told in confidence appears here in any form, and nothing on this page — or missing from it — should be read as a signal about what I know privately. I hold NDAs absolutely. It is the reason clients tell me things.
Judgment is the other thing left out on purpose. This page reports what has been published and who published it. Whether a target is credible, whether a ramp will hold, whether a capacity figure survives contact with the plant behind it — that is the work I do for clients, and it does not belong in a free reference page.
Where public sources disagree, I say so rather than picking a winner. Where a figure has not been published, the field says so rather than carrying an estimate. An empty field is information too.
Public filings tell you what a company has said. Whether it holds up is a different question, and the one I get hired to answer.
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