Consumption and Distribution of Secondary Copper
Secondary copper refers to copper recycled from products or discarded scrap. The recycling process involves collection, sorting, treating, and ultimately to conversion for the production of new copper products. Secondary copper has been used for centuries and its main advantage is to reduce the environmental impact of copper production and to conserve finite resources required for refining and smelting.
Due to the global increase in demand for copper, global copper consumption is overwhelmingly driven by the secondary copper market. China is the largest consumer of copper worldwide, and secondary copper accounts for roughly 12-35% of China’s copper consumption, with the remainder coming from import of primary copper. In Japan, the share of secondary copper consumption accounts for 15-20%. The low share is attributed to its lack of effective sorting and collection infrastructure, which limits the recycling of secondary copper.
European countries, including the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, have a higher import of secondary copper than Asian nations, at 35-50%. Europe is viewed as being more advanced in terms of its ability to recycle copper, with innovative collection and sorting techniques being developed to ensure copper is recycled effectively. In the United States, secondary copper consumption accounts for 18-30% of copper consumption, and this may increase as more efficient sorting and collection systems are developed.
In terms of the distribution of secondary copper, China is the leading producer of secondary copper and supplies a large portion of global production. In 2016, the amount of secondary copper produced in the United States, Europe, and Japan was considerably lower than that in China. In 2017, however, secondary copper production increased in these countries due to the growing demand for recycled copper.
In Europe and the United States, secondary copper is predominantly produced through smelting and refining. This involves melting scrap copper and alloying it with other metals to produce new copper alloys, which can then be used to make new products. In China, however, the greatest amount of secondary copper is produced through scrap processing without the need for smelting and refining. This is done by taking used copper products and melting them together to create new products.
Secondary copper is a valuable resource, and its use helps to reduce environmental impacts and conserve finite resources. Therefore, it is essential to ensure efficient collection and sorting of scrap copper to ensure its full potential is achieved. In the future, as technologies for sorting and collection of copper improve, secondary copper will become an even more important source of copper worldwide.
