Mitsubishi Materials Corporation is acquiring a minority stake in Elemental’s US e-waste platform, a deal aimed at expanding electronic scrap collection and processing in the US.
In a Dec. 18 announcement, Mitsubishi Materials said it will invest in Elemental USA E-Waste & ITAD, which operates through Colt Recycling. The company described the move as part of a broader effort to expand resource circulation initiatives outside Japan.
In an interview with E-Scrap News, Elemental framed the deal as a way to match its strengths in upstream collection and processing with Mitsubishi Materials’ downstream smelting capabilities. Hugo Schumann, CEO of EverMetal Capital and US CEO of Elemental Group, said Elemental has used a roll-up approach in its platinum-group metals business and wants to pursue a similar strategy in US e-waste.
Schumann said Elemental’s operations are concentrated on the upstream part of the value chain and that the partnership is meant to bring in a long-term counterparty with downstream expertise. He said the companies expect the deal to support both organic expansion and acquisitions that would broaden Elemental’s footprint across the US.
“You’re going to see more growth organically,” Schumann said, describing plans for Colt to expand in multiple states. Elemental has said Colt Recycling processes about 18,000 metric tons of e-waste each year across four facilities.
Schumann added that the company is also looking at inorganic growth through mergers and acquisitions to build additional upstream capabilities and reach new regions.
Mitsubishi Materials said the partnership will complement its earlier investment in Exurban Limited, which is developing a secondary smelting business in the US. The company said the Elemental investment is intended to expand upstream procurement by increasing the collection network and to strengthen a value chain that runs from collection and dismantling of e-scrap to the smelting of metal ingots.
The companies also said they will explore long-term downstream solutions, including potential future feedstock flows from Colt Recycling into a secondary smelting plant that the Mitsubishi Materials group is considering constructing in the US.
Paweł Jarski, CEO of Elemental Holding SA, said in a statement that Mitsubishi Materials’ investment provides “significant strategic momentum as we scale our e-waste operations worldwide,” and he pointed to growth drivers including digitalization, rising device turnover and expansion of data centers.
Mitsubishi said the investment aligns with its medium-term management strategy, covering fiscal years ending March 2027 through 2029, which includes expanding e-scrap collection and secondary smelting in Europe, the US and Asia.
The company plans to acquire 4,448 common shares in Elemental USA E-Waste, representing 19% of voting rights, as well as 13,771 nonvoting preferred shares. Mitsubishi said the preferred shares could be converted into common shares at the company’s discretion, subject to customary regulatory approvals, and that a full conversion would raise its voting rights ownership ratio to 49%.
Closing is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2026.
Tetsuya Tanaka, executive officer and president of Mitsubishi Materials, said the investment will help accelerate a shift toward secondary smelting in electronic scrap. “Through collaboration with trusted recyclers such as Colt Recycling, we aim to strengthen e-scrap collection capabilities and expand supply regions in the US secondary smelting business,” Tanaka said.
The transaction follows Elemental’s announced strategic partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation in January 2024 focused on recycling platinum-group metals from spent automotive catalytic converters, an agreement that included trade finance support and an equity investment tied to Elemental’s US operations.
