Household Copper Recycling Offers Key Environmental Benefits
Discarded cables and items can help transition to a circular economy.
UK houses can reduce copper scarcity and meet increasing copper demand.
A new study by Recycle Your Electricals says that recycling the UK's 1.3 billion unused or binned electricals and 627 million cables could increase the availability of copper, reduce its scarcity, and meet the growing demand for it in many sectors, including renewable energy.
According to the study, these items contain a significant amount of copper, and recycling them effectively has huge environmental benefits.
A Bloomberg Intelligence report shows that as the demand for technology and renewable energy continues to surge, there will be a shortfall of 6.5 million tonnes of copper by 2033. This scarcity could be thwarted through the efficient recycling of copper.
Households in the UK have about 38,499 tonnes of copper hidden in their unused and unwanted electrical appliances. This is enough to fulfil the UK's yearly copper requirements for technology.
Cables are a great source for copper recovery. Research indicates that 20 per cent of the weight of cables is copper. By recycling, the UK could reclaim 3,252 tonnes of copper.
Recycle Your Electricals is launching a campaign to celebrate International E-waste Day on October 14th. This campaign encourages households and communities to recycle 1 million cables and aims to spread awareness about the value of unused electricals and the importance of reducing e-waste.
Overall, the study highlights the importance of recycling copper and the value of materials in old and discarded electrical items to meet the surging demand.
In conclusion, the UK has a lot of potential to meet its copper demand by recycling unused electrical items, including cables. A better approach to recycling will help address the supply shortages and support the nation's transition to a circular economy, supporting greener technologies.
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Source: Material Focus
