Kobe Steel, Ltd. and Nippon Light Metal Company, Ltd. received the METI Minister's Award administered by the 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) Promotion Council for their effective utilization of aluminum dross.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) presents awards to individuals, groups and enterprises that have achieved outstanding results in promoting "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" activities.  Kobe Steel's rotary arc furnace and Nippon Light Metal's compression-type aluminum dross treatment unit, MADOC, were recognized for their effective utilization of dross, which contribute to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle promotion.  

Dross is the waste material that arises when aluminum is melted.  Containing a large amount of impurities and oxides, dross is removed in the casting stage and contains 60% to 80% metallic aluminum.  Although there are many ways to recover dross, recovery rates have been low, and the residual ash after aluminum recovery has often been used in landfills as industrial waste.

Kobe Steel's arc furnace was jointly developed with The Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. in 1998.  In a reduction atmosphere in the arc furnace, the arc discharged between the electrodes melts the dross.  The metallic aluminum is recovered at an unprecedented high rate of 80% to 90%, in comparison to the conventional 40% to 60%.  After high-temperature treatment, the residual ash can be used as a raw material in cement.  The first arc furnace was installed in 1998 at Kobe Steel's Moka Plant in Tochigi.  A total of three furnaces are currently in operation at Kobe Steel.

Nippon Light Metal's aluminum dross treatment unit, MADOC, utilizes mechanical compression to extract and recover metallic aluminum from the dross.  After recovering the aluminum, all of the residual ash can be used as a supplement in steelmaking.  In addition, chemical substances, such as chlorine and fluoride, are not used as additives in aluminum recovery.  Nippon Light Metal developed MADOC in 1995 and has installed the equipment at its plants.  MADOC is currently being marketed and is being used in the aluminum melting operations at other aluminum companies.