More Than Ore: The Pivotal Role Recycled Copper Can Play in the Energy Transition

Copper is essential for renewable energy and electric vehicles, with demand projected to grow by at least 50% by 2050. While mining faces challenges like long lead times and decreasing ore quality, recycling copper—which is 100% recyclable—can save up to 85% of the energy used in extraction. Currently, recycled copper provides about one-third of the global supply, but doubling end-of-life recycling rates from 32% to 66% could recover over 6 million tons of copper from landfills annually by 2040. Scaling this requires improving collection systems, expanding high-standard processing capacity, and increasing market demand for recycled materials across the U.S., EU, and China.

• Copper demand is expected to rise significantly due to the clean energy transition; by 2040, 50% of demand will be for clean energy technologies, and total global demand is projected to increase by at least 50% by 2050. Renewable energy power systems may require six to 12 times more copper than fossil-fuel systems, and electric vehicles need two to three times more than gas vehicles.
• Recycling copper is a highly efficient alternative to mining, as it is 100% recyclable without loss of properties and can reduce the energy required for production by up to 85%. Recycled copper currently constitutes approximately one-third of the global supply.
• Increasing the global end-of-life copper recycling rate from 32% to 66% could allow for the recovery of over 6 million tons of copper from landfills every year by 2040, which is 30% more than the 2023 production of the world's 10 largest copper mines.
• The U.S., Europe, and China control about 60% of collectible end-of-life copper and nearly 80% of the scrap market revenue, but each faces distinct barriers: the U.S. lacks smelting and refinery capacity; Europe struggles with regulatory hurdles for cross-border scrap shipment and high energy costs; and China relies heavily on government subsidies to maintain market viability.

APA

World Resources Institute (2025). More Than Ore: The Pivotal Role Recycled Copper Can Play in the Energy Transition. https://www.wri.org/insights/pivotal-role-recycled-copper-energy-transition

Chicago

World Resources Institute. More Than Ore: The Pivotal Role Recycled Copper Can Play in the Energy Transition. 2025. https://www.wri.org/insights/pivotal-role-recycled-copper-energy-transition.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=More Than Ore: The Pivotal Role Recycled Copper Can Play in the Energy Transition |date=7 January 2025 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/pivotal-role-recycled-copper-energy-transition |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2025more, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{More Than Ore: The Pivotal Role Recycled Copper Can Play in the Energy Transition}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/pivotal-role-recycled-copper-energy-transition}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }