Cities are potentially rich & sustainable sources of metals like copper, but a new study says there are still limits to “Urban Mining”.
Everything made by people like gadgets or cars or plumbing is said to belong in the “anthroposphere”, something Urban Mining aims to manage as a source of raw materials. The Urban Mine continues to grow in size as we keep adding to the material objects we own and especially technology. Urban Mining is an important part of the Circular Economy and provides a degree of independence from the exploitation of natural resources.
A new study, “The promise and limits of Urban Mining”, by Fraunhofer ISI was commissioned by the International Copper Association. The study explores its benefits, existing obstacles and ways to scale the practice up around the globe.
An important and highly efficient circular economy action is the reuse, repair and remanufacturing of all this so-called “anthropogenic stock”. But Urban Mining can play an important role in harvesting materials that would otherwise end up in landfill despite limits due to differing rules over recycling internationally or even what can be recovered economically.
Copper is an important part of the Urban Mining debate and the amount of copper in the urban mine keeps on rising. Since 1990 the amount of copper in use more than doubled from about 210 Million Tonnes (MT) to 450 MT in 2018.
Detail (pdf): https://www.isi.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/isi/dokumente/ccn/2020/Fraunhofer_ISI_Urban_Mining.pdf