45
Innovators
only stockholders but also stakeholders, i.e. emplo-
yees, suppliers, customers, the local community, lo-
cal, state, and governments, environmental groups,
and other special interest groups.
Metal
co as a hol
ding
has tak
en sev
eral
social
ini-
tiativ
es in Zambia.
What w
ere the main reasons
of such commitments to the community
?
Metalco deliberately went into recycling of metals as
a social responsibility against the threat recyclable
scrap were causing on the environment we operate
in.
How
w
oul
d y
ou define innov
ation in its different
aspects?
The process of translating an idea or invention into
a good or service that creates value for which cus-
tomers will pay.
An idea must be replicable at an economical cost
and must satisfy a specific need. Innovation invol-
ves deliberate application of information, imagination
and initiative in deriving greater or different values
from resources, and includes all processes by which
new ideas are generated and converted into useful
products. In business, innovation often results when
ideas are applied by the company in order to further
satisfy the needs and expectations of the customers.
In a social context, innovation helps create new
methods for alliance creation, joint venturing, flexi-
ble work hours, and creation of buyers’ purchasing
power.
Our value chain has all aspects of innovation.
Do y
ou consider y
our hol
ding
of companies
as being
innov
ativ
e? Coul
d y
ou pl
ease g
iv
e us
some exampl
es?
We do have some examples that speak of our inno-
vations within the company. The main ones would
be the recycling of scrap batteries and copper ores
and scrap.
The compositions of scrap batteries are: terminals,
cells, oxides and casing. In our recycling of batte-
ries, all the composition of the batteries is recycled
with no waste remains. From the casings, we recycle
them into PP pallets, which are used for production
of new casings without any new additional materials
being added. Whereas all the oxides are recycled
into new oxides with new chemicals added and the
lead cells are processed into lead ingots, which are
reused when making new cells.
Note that PP pallets, lead ingots and batteries are
sold as is and buyers are free to pay for our products
at processed level.
When it comes to copper ores and scrap, our innova-
tion is that all production lines are inter-linked, be it
processing of copper ores through solvent extraction
and electrowinning into cathodes or recycling of cop-
per scrap using electrowinning then into cathodes
then eventually into copper rods and cables.
Note that in all our process, there is no waste all the
materials are captured into finished products.
Metal
co is the first profitabl
e entity
in Zambia to
first impl
ement a Going
Green initiativ
e.
Pl
ease,
el
aborate about said initiativ
e.
Coul
d y
ou expl
ain
the impact of such a decision? Are y
ou l
eading
the w
ay
for other companies?
Recycling has allowed people to be self-employed
apart from the company earning a fair return from
the investment.
No one that steps on scrap metal either knowingly
or unknowingly would escape the hurt, thus, in our
quest to create a free environment from the dangers
scrap metal was posing, we have gone into recycling
scrap metals into reusable finished products.
Paper Scrap is biodegradable but still create a threat
of growing fire regardless of its position being fuel
and fire igniting reagent. The other way to prevent a
glowing fire is by recycling paper scrap into reusable
products. We believe that our paper recycling crea-
tes a free environment from an eminent growing fire.
