HIRAKIN

What HIRAKIN does

HIRAKIN (平林金属株式会社) is a Japanese metal and appliance recycling company founded in 1956 and headquartered in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The company operates a vertically integrated recycling platform anchored by its Recycling Farm Mitsu facility, which runs dedicated processing lines for air conditioners, flat panel TVs, CRT TVs, OA equipment, mixed plastics, rare metals, plastics crushing, and refrigerators, achieving reclamation rates that consistently exceed statutory minimums across all four mandated home appliance categories. Its core offerings span certified home appliance recycling under Japan's Home Appliance Recycling Law, metal scrap collection and resale, and corporate B2B waste management consulting with on-site assessment and pickup services. The company serves two primary customer segments: individual consumers through a regional network of Ecobin (えこ便) drop-off stations and E-post (eポスト) paper recycling points across Okayama and Tottori prefectures, and enterprise clients through tailored corporate recycling solutions. Revenue derives from transaction-based statutory recycling fees for the four mandated appliance categories, commodity margins on metal scrap sales to secondary markets, and professional services fees for corporate clients. Beyond core recycling, HIRAKIN has diversified through seven wholly-owned subsidiaries into adjacent operations including the HEPOS recycling point system (Hirakin Bright), demolition services (Hirakin Kousan), agricultural and coffee bean cultivation (Buzzle Farm), KOENBENCH GREENS coffee roasting, disability employment support (Takara Sagashi), and recycling equipment engineering (Hirakintech). The company also operates the HIRAKIN Rise baseball stadium and a nationally competitive men's softball team, positioning itself around the MOTTAINAI ARIGATAI sustainability brand.

Name

HIRAKIN

Legal name

平林金属株式会社 (Hirakin Co., Ltd.)

Website

https://hirakin.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1956

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

HIRAKIN is a 1956-founded, Okayama-based Japanese metal and appliance recycling company operating certified processing facilities, a regional network of consumer drop-off stations (Ecobin and E-post), and B2B corporate recycling services, serving households and enterprises across Chugoku and San'in regions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Metal and Appliance Recycling Services

NAICS

Materials Recovery Facilities (562920), Waste Management and Remediation Services (562), Waste Treatment and Disposal (5622), Waste Collection (56211)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953), Sanitary Services (4950)

akta.pro primary industry

Appliance (White Goods) Recycling & Refrigerant Recovery (BPALAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection & Program Operations (BPALAFAL), Asset Recovery, Surplus & Decommissioning Services (EUAIANAD), Enterprise Hardware Recycling (Servers, Storage, Networking) (BPALAIAI)

Keywords

• Metal recycling services
• Appliance recycling
• Resource recovery
• Paper recycling
• Corporate waste management

Headquarters

HQ city

Okayama

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Appliance Recycling Services: Collection and recycling of home appliances (四品目: air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines) with statutory recycling fees. The company operates certified recycling facilities to process these items and recover materials.
2. Metal Scrap Collection and Sales: Purchase and collection of metal scrap from businesses and individuals, processing and reselling recovered metals to secondary markets.
3. Corporate Recycling Solutions: B2B services providing comprehensive waste assessment, collection, and recycling solutions for corporate clients with customized approaches.
4. E-commerce Sales: Sale of agricultural products through 'アイテラス' (iTerrace) platform including Okayama peaches and local produce, as well as 'KOENBENCH' coffee products.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

HIRAKIN is a privately-held recycling company that collects, processes, and recovers resources from discarded home appliances (air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators, washing machines), small electronics, metal scrap, and paper waste. It operates certified recycling facilities with reclamation rates that exceed statutory minimums, and runs a network of consumer drop-off stations (Ecobin and E-post) as well as on-site corporate collection services across the Okayama and Tottori prefectures of Japan.

Product overview

HIRAKIN is a metal recycling company offering a portfolio of recycling-related services. The core offerings include えこ便 (household recycling collection), eポスト (paper recycling with points system), and corporate recycling consultation services. The company also operates circular economy partnership programs and provides VR factory tours. Several sub-brands handle complementary businesses: 葉豆瑠農園 cultivates vegetables and coffee; KOENBENCH GREENS roasts and sells coffee; アイテラス operates an agricultural e-commerce platform; and たからさがし provides employment support services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• えこ便 (Ecobin): Small home appliance, metal scrap, newspaper, cardboard, and used paper collection and resource recycling service with pick-up and drop-off stations across Okayama and Tottori prefectures.
• eポスト (E-Post)
• アイテラス (iTerrace)
• KOENBENCH GREENS
• HEPOS (イーポス)

Products and services

• Ecobin (えこ便)

Quantifiable outcome

• Recycling rates exceed statutory minimums: 92.1% vs 80% (air conditioners), 90.5% vs 82% (washing machines)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AMDA-MINDScoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Partnership established in 2022 to support Nepal coffee bean cultivation projects. AMDA-MINDS had been working on coffee cultivation initiatives in Nepal, and HIRAKIN Group began supporting this program and importing the resulting coffee beans for sale in Japan. The coffee products are processed by group companies including Takara Sagashi (employment support A-type facility) for packaging.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• DOWA HOLDINGS: DOWA is a large Japanese non-ferrous metals and recycling conglomerate with scrap-metal, e-waste, and home appliance recycling operations; overlapping with HIRAKIN's metal and electronic recycling but at much larger scale.
• Mitsubishi Materials: Mitsubishi Materials operates one of Japan's largest home appliance recycling networks and recovers rare metals from e-waste, serving as a broad incumbent benchmark for HIRAKIN's resource recovery capabilities.
• Asahi Holdings: Asahi Holdings is a Japanese precious and rare-metal recycling group whose smelting and refining operations complement HIRAKIN's appliance recycling — particularly the rare metal concentration line at the RF Mitsu facility.
• Sumitomo Metal Mining: Sumitomo Metal Mining conducts non-ferrous metal smelting and recycling, including recovery of rare metals from end-of-life electronics — comparable in metal resource recovery to HIRAKIN's appliance and metal scrap operations.
• JX Advanced Metals (JX Metals): JX Advanced Metals is a major Japanese non-ferrous metal and recycling group with large-scale smelting and electronic waste processing, comparable in metal recovery activities to HIRAKIN's metal scrap business.

Direct peers

• San-Ei Eco Corporation: San-Ei Eco is a Japanese recycling company that handles appliances, metals, and resource recovery, providing a direct regional benchmark for HIRAKIN's appliance and metal scrap operations.
• Sanko Metal Industrial: Sanko Metal is a Japanese scrap metal collection and processing company focused on ferrous and non-ferrous metals, directly comparable to HIRAKIN's metal scrap collection and resale business.
• Recycle One: Recycle One is a Japanese household appliance and metal recycling company operating certified processing facilities under the Home Appliance Recycling Law, directly comparable to HIRAKIN's core recycling franchise.
• ReNet Japan Group: ReNet Japan is a direct peer — a Japanese e-waste and small home appliance recycling operator with certified collection networks and processing facilities, competing head-to-head with HIRAKIN's certified small appliance recycling operations.

Regional players

• Daiei Kankyo: Daiei Kankyo is a Japanese recycling and waste management company handling appliances, metals, and industrial waste, with operating overlap in Chugoku/Kansai regions comparable to HIRAKIN's Kansai-Chugoku operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/hirakinplanning
• Facebookfacebook.com/hirakin.mottainai
• Instagraminstagram.com/hirakin.mottainai

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HIRAKIN