5 reasons why copper is the most worthy scrap metal to recycle

Even though copper is a fairly common metal, it is still highly sought after for recycling purposes. Let’s explore 5 reasons why copper is the most worthy scrap metal to recycle and machines for copper recycling.

1. Copper is one of the most profitable types of scrap metal

Although the market keeps fluctuate, the price of copper is about 4 times that of aluminum and about 3 times that of zinc. Scrap copper prices vary depending on the grade of the material (copper, brass, red copper, bronze) and the purity of materials (clean or mixed). For example, the price of clean grade 1 copper scrap can reach more than 90% of the price of new refined copper; the price of new brass waste can also reach more than 80% of the price of corresponding brass. In the scrap metal recycling industry，copper is the metal that generates the most revenue for scrap yards.

2. Copper scrap is extremely easy to find

Copper is widely used in various industries: due to its good electrical conductivity, it is widely used in the manufacture of wire and cable, circuit boards, etc.; due to its good thermal conductivity, it is widely used in the manufacture of air-conditioning radiators; due to its excellent plasticity, easy to hot press and cold press, can be made into pipes, rods, wires, strips, strips, plates, and other copper materials. So you can easily find copper in all kinds of scraps.

3. Almost all scrap metal yards accept copper

There are two sources of copper used in industrial processing: natural mining and recycling. As we all know, copper is not a renewable resource, so the more mined it is, the less the total will be. In addition, the energy, effort and cost involved in creating copper from virgin ore is significantly greater than those associated with recycling copper. Therefore, it is much more profitable for industries to recycle copper. This is one of the key factors resulting in copper being such a sought-after material at the scrap metal yard. Copper can actually be recycled over and over again without losing any sort of quality.

4. Copper recycling has enormous environmental benefits

For every tonne of copper that is recycled:
3.4 tonnes of CO2e;
10,033kWhof energy;
5.97Kl of water; and
1100kg of waste is saved.
Those are huge numbers when you factor in that recycled copper makes up 75% of copper products as well as the fact that, as a whole, the process of recycling scrap copper only takes up around 10 – 15% of the energy that is used to make virgin copper. Giving us fantastic savings of 85 – 90% in energy used.

5. Copper recycling technology is very mature

For metal recycling yards, it is definitely not possible to rely on manpower to recover a large amount of copper, you have to use machines. Fortunately, the technology for copper recycling is very mature. As a experienced copper recycling machine manufacturer, our machines will help you recycle copper form different wastes efficiently:

Copper wire stripping machine: to remove the insulation from old copper wires, great for small metal recycling yards.

Copper wire granulator: shred the scrap copper wire into small pieces by shredding, and then separate copper granules from plastic granules.

PCB recycling machine: chop and grind the scrap circuit boards, then use electrostatic separator machine to separate copper powder and plastic powder.

Scrap radiator recycling machine: mainly used for scrap AC radiator recycling, with high capacity.