Three expressways intersect to the west of Japan’s Toyama Prefecture; each brings raw and scrap materials to the region’s aluminum producers and transports newly smelted ingots to global markets.
Aluminum is an important part of industry here. But innovation is disrupting business-as-usual, seeking new ways of preserving resources and embracing a more sustainable future.
Inside LIXIL’s Oyabe Plant in the prefecture, furnaces reaching blistering temperatures of 1,100°C melt down aluminum sashes and other waste materials collected from various locations. Once impurities have been removed, the recycled aluminum is reborn and turned into new products.