A conveyor belt moves high above the floor of a foundry (metals plant). Sheets of copper drop into a lava-hot furnace. Then pieces of old copper wire follow.

Out of the furnace comes liquid copper. Machines will shape it into copper rods. People can make those rods into new copper wire.

This Nexans copper casting plant is in Montreal, Canada. It has made copper rod from ore (rock or dirt containing metal) for nearly a century. But now it produces more than ever from used copper. Its rods contain about 14 percent recycled metal. How much is that?

Imagine a rod cut into 20 equal pieces. About three of those pieces are recycled copper. Soon, Nexans hopes to make rods containing 20 percent recycled copper. That would be four pieces of the rod.

Manufacturers have been reusing and recycling some copper for many years. But they’re kicking these efforts into high gear. Experts guess the need for copper will almost double by 2035. People want to power more buildings, cars, and factories with electricity. To do that, they need. . . more copper. Plus, new electronics use lots of the metal too. 

Copper is a good candidate for reuse. It can be recycled many times without losing its value or usefulness. 

About two-thirds of all the copper produced in the last century is still in use, says the International Copper Association. It’s mostly in electrical grids, home appliances, and phones. Eventually, people will replace those things. That huge stock of copper can be recycled!

Christopher Guérin is the head of Nexans. He tells customers, “Your scrap of today is your energy of tomorrow, so bring back your scrap.”

Why? People depend on electronics and electricity. That means we also depend on copper!