Metech History

Metech International Time Line


1968
Founded as "RefineMet" to service the tantalum capacitor industries by recovering and recycling tantalum anodes and silver.

1970 to 1975
Expands operations to serve Northeastern industrial precious metal users, primarily in the electrical and electronics industry. Changes name to "NobleMet".

1975 to 1980
Expands precious metal recovery services to new industries such as chemicals, jewelry, telecommunications and the ever-expanding electronics industry.

Acquires AgMet, Inc., a publicly traded company (American Stock Exchange) and sells off business units unrelated to precious metals. Changes name to "AgMet".

1980 to 1982
Purchases Wildberg Brothers, a precious metals sampler and refiner in South San Francisco, to service the growing West Coast electronics business. Name changes back to "RefineMet" and lists on the American Stock Exchange.

1983 to 1985
Boliden AB, a large Swedish metals and minerals company listed on the Stockholm exchange, purchases the secondary metals processing portion of RefineMet. Renamed Boliden Metech, Inc., becomes the North American secondary metals operation for the copper smelting and precious metal refining operation for Boliden, AB.

Boliden Metech (Metech) forms a business division that dismantles electronic equipment for its customers. Metech purchases Applied Metallurgical Technology (AmTec) in Gilroy, CA and moves the South San Francisco, California, operation to this facility.

1986
Trelleborg AB, a Stockholm listed Swedish industrial conglomerate, acquires Boliden AB. Metech acquires a South Bend, Indiana scrap recycling facility from Scandinavian Trading Corporation.

1997
Trelleborg completes an IPO of Boliden on the Toronto exchange, retains ownership of Metech; name changes from Boliden Metech, Inc. to Metech International, Inc.

2000
Metech closes the South Bend, IN facility and moves operations to the existing East Coast facility in Mapleville, RI.

2001
Metech's East Coast and West Coast operations obtain ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.

2002
Trelleborg sells Metech to Viking Investment and Asset Management, a South African investing company.

2005
Metech is purchased by MTI Corporation, a U.S. based private investment fund. Metech relocates East Coast operations from Rhode Island to Worcester, Mass.

2006
Metech renews its ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 Certification for its East Coast and West Coast facilities. Metech improves its Worcester, MA electronic scrap processing capabilities by through the installation of $1.25 million processing line. Metech opens electronic scrap processing facilities in Penang, Malaysia and Bangkok, Thailand.

2007
Metech expands its West Coast (Gilroy, CA) electronic scrap and precious metals processing capability through a $2.5 million facility upgrade. Centillion Environment and Recycling Limited, a Singapore public traded company, acquires Metech.

2008
Metech's parent company, Centillion Environment and Recycling Limited, acquires Guaranteed Recycling Xperts (GRX), a Denver, Colorado based scrap electronic equipment recycler with operations in Colorado and Utah. GRX opens a new recycling facility in Omaha, Nebraska.

Metech announces the opening of a 30,000 sq. ft. electronic scrap processing facility in Durham, NC.

Metech announces it support of the Basel Action Network's e-Steward program, becomes an e-Stewards Founder, and initiates
e-Steward Recycler certification.

2009
Metech is merged with GRX.

Metech renews ISO 9001/14001 certification in its California and Massachusetts recycling plants. Metech achieves ISO 9001/14001 certification in its North Carolina recycling plant.

Metech invests $1 million in e-waste and monitor processing lines in North Carolina.