Tantalum Recycling expands processing capacity

Doral, Florida-based Tantalum Recycling, a recycling company dedicated to reclaiming and recycling capacitor-grade tantalum material for reuse by capacitor manufacturers, has announced that it has added more than $1 million in chemical processing improvements.

Tantalum is a rare metal used in manufacturing capacitors, which are found in virtually all types of consumer electronics. Based on current extraction rates, it has been estimated that there is less than 50 years of raw tantalum material remaining on the planet, Tantalum Recycling says. Additionally, since capacitor-grade tantalum material is classified as a conflict mineral because tantalum powder is primarily mined in unstable regions of the world (e.g., central Africa), it is subject to strict international industry regulations governing its procurement and use in the electronics supply chain.

As one of the few companies in the world with the ability to procure, recycle and process tantalum capacitors completely in-house, Tantalum Recycling, a certified conflict-free trader of this material, provides the global electronics industry with a profitable way to offload its obsolete tantalum capacitors, chemically pure tantalum scrap and the tantalum powder and wire scrap created during the capacitor manufacturing process, the company says. Tantalum Recycling also is a source of verified conflict-free tantalum capacitor powder, tantalum carbide powder and tantalum-capacitor-grade metal wire.

“The capacitor-grade tantalum material that we reclaim through our recycling process requires more processing than the bulk tantalum used for other applications,” says Ronald Gilerman, procurement director at Tantalum Recycling. “So, expanding our operations will allow us to process the tantalum capacitors and scrap that we collect from e-cyclers more quickly and efficiently, ensuring that the electronics industry has a supply of this critical material for years to come.”

He continues, “E-waste collection and e-cycling companies are a rapidly growing segment of the electronics industry supply chain, so announcing our newly expanded capabilities at E-Scrap, where we could leverage our presence and sponsorship to raise targeted awareness about the profit potential associated with recycling the tantalum capacitors in the e-waste stream prior to bulk processing, just made sense. In addition to doing their part to reduce, reuse, and recycle, many E-Scrap attendees can use our simple online recycling process to make up to $70 per reclaimed pound of tantalum materials,” Gilerman says.

Tantalum Recycling is exhibiting and sponsoring at the E-scrap 2015 conference, Sept. 1-3, 2015, in Orlando, Florida. Exhibiting at Booth No. 807, Tantalum Recycling, a gold sponsor of the event, says it is educating attendees about how they can help conserve the limited global supply of tantalum.

More information about Tantalum Recycling and its capacitor reclamation program is available at http://tantalumrecycling.com or by e-mailing info@tantalumrecycling.com or calling 800-805-9150.