ME FIT Programs

ME FIT Grinding

We offer integral and technical solutions to help our customers tackle the unique challenges at each mining operation and to positively impact priority KPIs: tons per hour, safety management, availability and maintainability of equipment, risk prevention, among others.

ME FIT Crushing

We design solutions to help our customers achieve their goals by combining crusher wear parts with technology tools, advice, training and monitoring — all of which allow us to create value in our customers’ processes.

Products and Services

Crushing

We provide wear parts for primary, secondary and tertiary crushing applications for the mining, aggregate and recycle industries with optimal designs and alloys specifically developed for each application.

Grinding

We are the world leader in designing and supplying highly engineered grinding mill liners for SAG, AG, ball, tower and rod milling.

Grinding Media

ME Elecmetal designs, manufactures and supplies the highest quality forged steel grinding media for SAG, ball and rod mills in the world.

Digital Solutions

Technology solutions that add value to mining processes for making timely decisions and recommendations to ME Elecmetal's clients.

ME Digital Lab

ME Elecmetal combines technology and innovation to serve the global mining industry with integral solutions to optimize processes.

Aggregate Solutions

Aggregate

We are a crushing and wear solutions innovator born in mining, now leading in aggregate. We combine speed, customization, and quality to help distributors outperform OEMs with smarter, faster, and safer solutions.

Metallic Raw Material (MRM) Recovery: ME Elecmetal’s Circularity Business Model Recognized as a Best Practice in Chile

In response to growing recognition that current economic models contribute to resource depletion, biodiversity loss, waste generation, harmful emissions, and climate change, more organizations are embracing the shift towards circular economy frameworks. These systems aim to maximize efficiency in the use of raw materials, resources, and supplies while creating environmental, social, and economic value. By adopting sustainable production practices, circular models restore and renew resources, improve product quality for the market, and enhance ecosystem health.

In this context, Sociedad de Fomento Fabril (SOFOFA) –the Federation of Chilean Industry–, in collaboration with SOFOFA Hub and the Programa Territorio Circular (Circular Territory Program, an initiative led by Corfo and Chile’s Ministry of the Environment), released the second edition of the Practical Guide for Business Circular Management. This guide highlights exemplary circular economy practices and provides practical, technical insights from participating companies to share and promote replicable circular economy experiences across the business sector.

ME Elecmetal actively contributed to this guide, along with other companies such as CMPC, Anglo American, Collahuasi, Empresas Iansa, Colbún, Asfalcura, Enel, Sacyr, Volta, Emiliana, and Tresmontes Lucchetti. Together, these organizations co-developed a best practices manual based on their shared experiences and evidence from management indicators, creating a valuable resource for advancing circular economy practices.

Globally, ME Elecmetal advances its commitment to the circular economy and optimizes logistics and production processes by recovering metallic by-products, which are then transformed into raw material for the foundries. This is achieved through:

  1. Direct purchases from customers.
  2. In-direct purchases from customers through intermediaries
  3. Purchases from third parties, including other metallurgical companies and scrap yards

ME Elecmetal South America

By recovering Metallic Raw Material (MRM) directly from customers, ME Elecmetal achieves full traceability, accurate costing, and a clear understanding of material origins, which extends the steel lifecycle and ensures high chemical quality in production while reducing additional greenhouse gas emissions. This approach benefits clients by providing better purchase prices for steel liners and strengthening their Scope 3 emissions management. Through structured Supply Agreements and Scrap Contracts, customers can also enhance their site management, creating a mutually beneficial, sustainable partnership.

The economic benefit of this circular model lies in customers selling their by-products as MRM to ME Elecmetal, while ME Elecmetal, in turn, offers its liners at competitive prices. This mutually beneficial arrangement is supported by a polynomial or pricing equation that reflects the value created through circular operations, allowing customers to also act as suppliers to ME Elecmetal.

The semi-annual recovery process has successfully met 100% of ME Elecmetal’s MRM requirements for sustained operations, while also building a 34% inventory surplus to secure production continuity for several months. Of the recovered MRM, 79% is fully traceable back to its origin, predominantly from ME Elecmetal’s own scrap liners, ensuring a reliable and sustainable source.

ME Elecmetal North America

Using a scrap-recovery model similar to ME Elecmetal South America, the Tempe and Duluth foundries, along with the supply chain team, are currently recovering 77% of the Metallic Raw Material (MRM) required to support semi-annual production. Of this recovered material, 64% is traceable to its original source, reinforcing supply chain transparency and sustainability.

ME Elecmetal China

The Changzhou foundry recovers 98% of the total Metallic Raw Material (MRM) needed from third-party sources, ensuring operational continuity that accounts for 97% of the total semi-annual production. However, only 1.8% of this material is traceable to its origin, primarily due to structural and regulatory challenges, as well as the vast distances and difficulties associated with importing raw materials. Despite these challenges, this situation presents a significant opportunity to enhance traceability by engaging scrap providers upstream and up-cyclers downstream, thereby adding value throughout the entire recovery process.

Regulatory Compliance:

With increasingly stringent environmental regulations being introduced worldwide, adopting circular economy practices supports companies in meeting these requirements effectively, aligning business operations with regulatory standards to reduce environmental impact.

Innovation:

The circular economy fosters innovation across product and process design, as well as logistics, creating new business opportunities and competitive advantages. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also contributes to Scope 3 greenhouse gas reductions.

Cost Reductions:

Through the polynomial pricing equation within the Supply Agreement and MRM Contract framework, clients benefit from more favorable pricing and can even become metallurgical suppliers within a closed, clean, and efficient supply chain.

Improved Corporate Image:

Embracing circular economy practices enhances a company's reputation, positioning it as a leader in environmental sustainability and social responsibility. By integrating into the MRM Recovery Chain, the company demonstrates active collaboration in a sustainable and applied business model, reinforcing its commitment to a greener future.

As a result of this approach and recovery model in the three productive regions: ME Elecmetal South America, ME Elecmetal North America and ME Elecmetal China, the recovery and recycled usage rates during Q1 and Q2 of the current year are:

“Embracing a more circular approach is essential and a core component of our Global Corporate Business Model. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing waste to near zero, and significantly extending the useful life of our primary product along with its traceability to origin, we are committing to sustainable practices that benefit both our business and the environment.”

— ME Elecmetal, CEO, Eugenio Arteaga

 

“We serve as a platform for various companies to explore effective business practices and draw inspiration from them to advance sustainable development.”

— SOFOFA, Director of Sustainability, Ignacio Cobo

“The coordinating role of Territorio Circular between public and private stakeholders, along with our efforts to facilitate the implementation and monitoring of proposed measures in the roadmap, enables us to accelerate the adoption of circular economy models, particularly within the business sector.”

— Territorio Circular, Program Manager, Javier Obach

ME Elecmetal has successfully developed a circular MRM (Metallic Raw Material) recovery model that serves as a vital component of its business strategy. The importance of this model lies in its ability to:

  • Ensure Operational Continuity and Raw Material Inventory: By recovering metallic by-products from mining customers, ME Elecmetal guarantees a steady supply of high-quality steel cladding material. This recovery process meets rigorous technical, operational, logistical, and safety standards for both ME Elecmetal and its customers, maximizing the reuse of primary inputs.
  • Enhance Operational, Logistical, and Economic Efficiencies: ME Elecmetal’s recovery model secures technical quality with traceable origins for each batch of raw material, reducing carbon emissions related to transport and optimizing liner costs for customers as well as raw material costs for the smelter.
  • Support Clients’ Sustainability Goals: The model positively impacts mining customers’ logistics by improving their handling yard operations, supporting Scope 3 carbon footprint reduction, and aiding in the recovery of potential environmental liabilities.
  • Extend the Lifecycle of Raw Materials: By continuously circulating metal by-products from final production, ME Elecmetal maximizes the lifespan of these valuable materials.

To monitor and manage this sustainable approach, ME Elecmetal tracks three key indicators:

  • MRM Recovery Rate: The volume of MRM recovered relative to total production over a specific timeframe.
  • Traceability of Recovered MRM: The percentage of recovered material traceable to its original source.
  • Recycled MRM Usage: The share of recycled MRM used in production as a portion of total production.

For more details on the ME Elecmetal business case, download the guide.

Solutions

ME FIT Programs

Products and Services

Aggregate Solutions

Select Language

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.