A green investment will revive a brownfield in Liberec

30 Sep. 2010 | CzechInvest, Nippon PGM | Japanese Nippon PGM to create dozens of new jobs in the future.

A new Japanese eco-friendly investment will revive a currently disused part of an industrial building in Liberec. Dowa Metals & Mining Company, Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo and Toyota Tsusho Europe today established a brand new company Nippon PGM Europe in Liberec with the aim of starting a new project in Northern Bohemia that will focus on reprocessing auto spent catalysts.

“We very much appreciate that Nippon PGM decided to open its business in a building that had already been used since many years ago and is located in an existing industrial zone with all its facilities, instead of building new plant on a green area,” says Miroslav Křížek, CEO of Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvest.

“If everything goes to plan, we will start constructing the site in December 2010 with the aim of being fully operational by April 2011,” states Mr. Masaaki Ishiguro, President of Nippon PGM Co. “We are going to need at least 10 skilled technicians in the beginning to run the factory and in the future the number should grow based on business needs. Hiring should start as soon as the site is ready to satisfy our first customers.”

The new company will conduct sampling andsample preparation of used automobile catalyst,collecting platinum group metals. This Platinum is extremely rare on the planet and is often found in harsh mining conditions. Only about 200 tonnes of Platinum is mined each year. Using the same metal in more lifecycles will thus significantly reduce its impact on the environment. Materials from the Liberec factory can then find their new use in jewellery, electronics, medicine or in new cars again.

Since 1993, 95 Japan companies have launched their operations in the Czech Republic with CzechInvest’s help. The total amount of investment in these projects reached almost CZK 98 billion and there were nearly 24 000 new jobs created by them. The Czech Republic is one the most sough-after countries in Europe for Japanese manufacturers as it plays host to the fourth largest number of Japanese manufacturing companies operating in Europe, surpassing countries such as Italy or Spain.