Today’s global economy requires efficient use of raw materials, as well as material conservation through its reuse and recycling. Copper recycling is among these natural materials. On average, copper products contain 35 percent recycled content, which significantly reduces copper’s sustainable development footprint.
It is estimated that since 1900, two-thirds of the 550 million tonnes of copper mined is still in productive use. For copper recycling to be effective, innovation is needed. Endeavors supporting copper recycling can be implemented in new product design to facilitate end of life recovery and the industrial copper recycling processes to increase overall yields. ICA fully supports the copper industry’s efforts of copper recycling and reintroduce this valuable metal back into the economy.