JARA NEWSfromJapan Automotive Recyclers Alliancewww.jara.co.jp

Toyota and Panasonic toexplore automotive
prismatic battery businessfor developing better
products
On December 13, 2017, Toyota Motor
Corporation and Panasonic Corporation
announced that the two companies had
agreed to explore the feasibility of a joint
automotive prismatic battery business. Bothcompanies will evaluate the details of thecollaboration with the objective ofdeveloping the best automotive prismaticbattery in the industry and, ultimately,
contributing to the popularization of Toyota'sand other automakers' electrified vehicles.
Toyota and Panasonic recognize the impactthat further advancement in a stable supply
capacity of resources, reuse and recycling ofbatteries, will have on popularizing

CO2 Reduction Effect(based on JARA System)

The use of Reuse Parts saved

2,386 tons of CO2 emissions
in November 2017
The reference figure represents the difference of carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions at the vehicle repair using
genuine (new) parts and recycled parts.**: Based on "Green Point System", which was jointly
developed by the Japan Automotive Parts Recyclers
Association and Waseda University Environmental
Research Institute using a life cycle assessment (LCA)
technique.

electrified vehicles. The two leading
Japanese companies will join forces toimprove the competitiveness of electrified
cars.
Panasonic has already worked inpartnership with Toyota to supply lithiumion batteries (LIBs) used in Toyota’s hybrid
vehicles, including the Prius and Aqua
models. The electronics giant has also
supplied batteries for electric vehicles forU.S. carmaker Tesla Inc., increasing its
presence in the auto industry.
Toyota has been developing a solid-statebattery and aims to commercialize it in early2020. The company believes the nextgeneration battery can significantly improveon the capacity of existing lithium-ion
batteries and help electric vehicles travel
longer distances on one full charge. In
September 2017, Toyota established EVC.A. Spirit Co., a joint venture with Mazda
Motor Corp. and Denso Corp., focused on
developing core technologies for electricvehicles.
• Toyota President Akio Toyoda said:“Everyone agrees that batteries will be asignificant core component of electrified
vehicles. We will work together and seek
ways to develop safer, high-capacity
batteries as well as methods to makerecycling of used batteries possible.”• Panasonic President Kazuhiro Tsuga
said: “Panasonic is celebrating the 100th
anniversary of our founding next year. Onthe other hand, in the automobile industry
today, we are witnessing a huge wave oftransformation emerging from theaccelerated electrification of vehicles, among
other factors. Panasonic can never survive if
we simply cling to our current businessmodels. In this situation, we believe that thenext one hundred years will see much more
drastic changes than even those wewitnessed over the past one hundred years.”(Daily Automotive News, Dec. 14, 2017issue)

More than 8 percent show
good impression about
recycled parts
JARA Corporation has released results ofa survey on recycled auto parts. The survey
was conducted among the attendees at aJanuary 2018, No. 119

Published by JARA Corporation
Tokyo Head Office: Shinawa Bldg. 1-2-2-7F,
Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo JAPAN 103-0027
Phone: +81 3 3548 3010 / Fax: +81 3 3231 4690

JARA's introductory training course
for front desk workclassic car festival. Out of a total of 140
respondents, more than 90 percent were
aware of the prevalence of recycled parts.
Further, 80 percent of the respondents
answered that they have a good impression
about recycled parts. However, they showed
resistance to the use of such parts in theirown cars. From this experience, JARA has
decided to explore ways to better promote
recycled parts among consumers. (DailyAutomotive News, Dec. 21, 2017 issue)

JARA holds introductory
course for front desk workin Shizuoka
JARA Corporation held its “Introductory
Course for Front Staff Work” at Aioi Nissay
Dowa Insurance Co.’s Automotive ResearchCenter in Shizuoka Prefecture. (Photoabove)
Nine people from eight JARA groupmember companies participated in theseminar, which sought to provide an
introduction about the role and purpose of
the front desk work, as well as the skills andknowledge related to customer service.
The seminar’s curriculum also included
methods to achieve improvement incustomer satisfaction (CS), communication
with customers, complaint resolution,
profitability improvement, and so on. A roleplay about a telephone call from a customer
and how to respond to it was also conducted,
which was recorded in video. The video wasreplayed, and the participants discussed
about better responses for the givensituation.

JARA NEWS No. 119 January 2018 Page 2

Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Group, left,and Takuya Kawamura, Sun Power
president, right.

Three recyclers set up a car
repair factory in Bangladesh

Yokohama Prefecture-based used tire
sales company Sun Power Corporation, andtwo Japanese recyclers plan to establish a
joint company in Bangladesh to operate anautomotive repair business. The Bangladesh-ELV acceptance rises in 2017 –over 3.2M for the first time inthree years
Japan’s ELV acceptance has been increasingfor 12 consecutive months. According to theJapan Automobile Recycling Promotion Center(JARC), accepted end-of-life-vehicles (ELVs)
by designated collection companies in October
2017 increased by 9.7 percent from a year
earlier to touch 276,804 units. If it continues atthis pace, the annual figure for 2017 is expected
to exceed the originally forecasted level of 3.05
million units, and “is highly likely to reach 3.25
to 3.30 million units,” JARC said. It will bebased Grameen Group will also capitalize on
the project as a local partner.
The new company named Grameen Japan
Auto World is scheduled to incorporate in
March 2018 in Japan. Sun Power Corp., UpRising Co., Tochigi Prefecture, and MogeeCo., Miyagi Prefecture, will invest in thejoint venture. A vehicle repair factory will beconstructed in Dhaka, and it begins operationsin January 2018 at the earliest. It will be staffedwith all local employees.
With the establishment of the car repair
factory, the companies intend to export tires andwheels, as well as used parts and accessories
from Japan to Bangladesh. In addition to theuse of replacements in the corporate fleet ofGrameen Group companies, the joint venture
aims to expand sales to other customers inBangladesh. In that nation, roads are reportedly
filled with about 80 percent in total, Japanese
vehicles compared to non-Japanese vehicles.
Takuya Kawamura, Sun Power president, said,“Demand for repair with Japanese ways andJapanese replacement parts are high.”
There are lots of discarded vehicles being
dumped in Bangladesh. “By bringing Japaneseknow-how of automobile dismantling, we cancontribute to the Bangladesh society,” said
Mogee president.
The joint venture will be invested 51 percent
by Grameen and 49 percent by the three
Japanese parties.

the first time to surpass the 3.20 million-unit
milestone in three years.
JARC attributed the yearly gain to thehigher market price of steel scrap and steadynew car sales. Steel scrap price, particularly,
has risen to 30,000 yen per ton, and rose six
times in a month in November. Thus, prices for
scrapped vehicles are rising. Buyers of steel
scrap are, therefore, encouraged to procure
ELVs even at high prices. The trend might
have been supporting recyclers for the past 12months, according to industry sources. “Unlikethe previous year, now we seldom have heardof bad news, such as business closure andbankruptcy in the recycling industry,” said a
recycler association executive.

1993 to improve awareness of recycled autoparts and to promote such parts to society. It
meets four times every year so far and saw the100th holding at the December 4 event.
Hiroyuki Kurihara, Chairman of the group,delivered the message at the beginning of theevent, “We started this study 25 years ago
with nine companies. The 25-year historyof Jikenkai was really helped by all of yourcontinued support. From the 101st holding, wewill contribute to the industrial activation ofrecycling businesses as a reborn study group.”
Under the slogan of “Creating an Industry
for the 21st Century,” Jikenkai is seen as anadvanced group that always steps forward tolead industry. Its motto includes freedom ofspeech, freedom of action, and freedom of
conducting business in consideration of notaffecting the activities of each member.
On June 18, 1993, the first holding ofJikenkai was called by founding members ofNobuo Shimizu, president of U-Parts, Inc.,
Nishio Kawamura, Kawamura Cars, Co., andMitsugu Saito, president of the Mie Parts, Co.
The group invited guest speakers from insideand outside of the industry to its regular event.
They also hosted study tours to Sweden, Russia,
Vietnam and Dubai of U.A.E. (Daily AutomotiveNews, Dec. 7, 2017 issue)

Industrial waste disposal also increases

ELV acceptance close to yearly gain for
the first time in three years

However, shredding businesses are facing
overcapacity. “In the Tokai Region, someshredding operators are forced to reject scrapped
ELVs because of over capacity,” said JARC.
“Industrial waste disposal is also increasingin the region. So they can’t manage forshredding scrapped vehicles.” It is also notedthat increased ELV acceptance has exposed theshortage of shredding workers, which is quickly
becoming an issue in ELV recycling. (Daily
Automotive News, Dec. 9, 2017 issue)

Jikenkai study groupcelebrates its 25th
anniversary
On December 4, 2017, theAutomotive Replacement Parts
Study Group (the so-called Jikenkai)
held its 25th anniversary party ata hotel in Tokyo. The event alsocommemorated its 100th holding.
The group, as a cross-industrialorganization, was established in

About Grameen Group:In 1983, Mr. Muhammad Yunus established
Grameen Bank to issue “micro finance”
to struggling borrowers with zero interest.
Centered on the bank business, the GrameenGroup now consists of more than 50
subsidiaries in the educational, medical, energy,
and telecommunication areas. The mission of
the group is to introduce business methods tosolve poverty and other social problems, not toseek monetary profits. Mr. Yunus and his bankwon the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. (Daily
Automotive News, Nov. 28, 2017 issue)

JARA NEWS No. 119 January 2018 Page 3

Dismantling process flow chart
How the Car Dismantling machine works
1. Receiving andevaluating cars
Incoming
vehicles tested
on dynamometerto check engine
condition

3. Parts collection

4. Collecting
undercarriage
parts and engines

Efficiently collectreusable parts

The car is turned to safely
collect engine, exhaustsystem and suspension parts

Remove fluids such as fuel, various types ofoil and chlorofluorocarbon gas

13CuAlCopperAluminium

63.546

Tyres

Batteries

Doors

Seats

Bonnets

ExhaustEngine Suspension

After treating, the scrap cars
are cut up and crushed orpressed into materials thatmeet industry needs

After pre-processing,
the car is sorted into raw
components such as
ferrous, non-ferrous andplastics
29

2. Collecting fuel, fluids andchlorofluorocarbon gas

6.Volume
reduction
processes

5. Car dismantlingprocess

Harnesses

MotorsRadiator

26.982Blocks of material can then be
distributed to smelting plants
for recycling

5. Processes
after removing
parts
Once thoroughly
cleaned, the parts
become good quality
recycled parts

The Evolution of car dismantling industry by Kobelco
Four times* the vehicle dismantlingcapability compared with hand dismantling.

EngineCatalytic
AgentsBody SteelSeats

Improved recovery
rate of rare earth metals
Windows26

1329

78

46

FeAl

Cu

Pt

Pd

Iron

Aluminium

CopperPlatinum

Palladium55.933*In one day (Kobelco test figures)

15 vehicles >Wheels/Tyres

26.98263.546

195.08106.42

Separation of these valuable
materials is quicker and easierand can be performed with one
Kobelco machine.

Sus pension

One operative
working by hand.
Radiator

60 vehicles >One operativein a Kobelco
Car Dismantlingmachine.

BrakesFront & Rear
Bumperswww.kobelco-kenki.co.jp/

www.samjung-kenki.co.kr/

KOBELCO CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
www.kobelco.com.au/

FAIR FRIEND ENTERPRISE CO.,LTD.
www.ffg-tw.com/

The machine’s special attachment
is designed to strip materials from
End-of-Life Vehicles (ELV)safely and thoroughly
Transmission

For Japan

For Korea

For Australia

For Taiwan

Doors

Harnesses

www.kobelco-jianji.com/

www.kobelco-usa.com/

www.kobelco-europe.com/

For China

For North America

For Europe