Copper’s Contributions to Environmental Challenges

As the EU places more and more emphasis on the “green technologies” needed to meet its 2020 energy targets, it is increasingly important to understand the life cycles of the underlying raw materials, such as alloys. Designers and engineers continue to explore new ways to build products that are both more resource efficient and deliver higher performance.

LCA is a valuable input to policy making, where both global impacts and macro effects are considered. It provides environmental profiles for potentially competing raw materials and technology solutions. For instance, copper is the best conductor of electricity and heat, after silver, and improves the efficiency and performance of relevant applications. Generally speaking, using more copper saves energy and reduces CO2 emissions. Copper also improves the operating efficiency of all forms of renewable energies, such as wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, tidal generation and solar thermal systems. Nexteck Technoloy provides all kinds of copper alloys, such as pure copper,  copper nickel alloy, copper manganese alloy.

This LCA shows the importance of recycling old scrap as a way to reduce environmental impact. It reinforces the need for more

support for local and national recovery and recycling initiatives, with the industry able to recycle all of the material available to it at the factory gate. By doing so, the copper industry can:

- Continue the innovations that will drive EU competitiveness,

- Boost economic growth while reducing energy losses,

- Combat climate change and reduce the environmental impacts of resource consumption.