Lihua International Inc., a Danyang, China-based maker of copper and copper wire, has signed a joint development agreement with the Beijing Modern Research Institute of Recycling Economy (RIORE), a national non-profit institution authorized by China’s State Council. The agreement’s goal is to study and develop low-carbon opportunities to grow the recycling industry.
Under the agreement, Lihua and RIORE will establish a research and development center at Lihua's headquarters to develop copper recycling technology and applications that will be the joint property of both Lihua and RIORE.
“RIORE is among China's top research institutes with a focus on recycling and elevating China's environmental standards,” says Jianhua Zhu, Lihua’s president and CEO. “We are honored to begin working in cooperation with this team to strengthen our robust R&D capabilities and broaden our product portfolio through industry-leading recycling product innovation. We are focused on sustainable and growing operations that meet the highest level of environmental standards from our copper recycling methods to our water filtration system. With plans to launch our new facility in the coming months, as well as begin importing scrap copper, we believe this is a timely and important partnership that will help showcase our technological leadership in the Chinese copper recycling market."
Lihua says its new scrap-consuming copper production facility, which will double its smelting capacity to 100,000 metric tons per year, is expected to start production by the end of 2011.
The company also says it is in the process of obtaining an import license for copper scrap. The company has obtained the license and is awaiting approval of associated environmental licenses required to begin importing copper scrap.