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Domestic consumption of copper currently stands at 1.5 million metric tons per year. U.S. mining accounted for 1.3 million tons.

Old (post-consumer) scrap, converted to refined metal, alloys, and other forms, provided an estimated 160,000 tons of copper in 2022, and an estimated 670,000 tons of copper was recovered from new (manufacturing) scrap derived from fabricating operations.

“Of the total copper recovered from scrap, brass and wire-rod mills accounted for approximately 85%; smelters, refiners, and ingot makers, 10%; and chemical plants, foundries, and miscellaneous manufacturers, 5%. Copper recovered from scrap contributed 32% of the U.S. copper supply. (Source for all data: USGS – see link below).

Although the U.S. has enough copper reserves and resources to meet current demand, geopolitical and logistical risks can disrupt copper supply – for example, a disruption to a key route, such as the Panama Canal, could wreak havoc. Currently, the U.S. imports 44% of its refined copper, according to Recycling Today.

As discussed in “Spotlight on Copper,” a 2023 ISRI (now ReMA) moderated panel discussion, in order to meet copper demand, the U.S. must retain its copper scrap versus exporting it. (See our 2023 write up of the discussion.)

That was then, this is now. According to projections in an August 2024 S&P Global report, U.S. copper demand is expected to more than double – to 3.5 million metric tons – by 2035. This demand represents a 112% increase or a compounded annual growth rate of 6.5%.

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Infrared Camera Side Mount on Scrap Metal Shredder Feed Chute — a K2 Castings project.

To ensure the best possible throughput, your shredder operator needs the best possible view of the material entering the shredder. It’s why you’ll often see shredder control cabs mounted to a tower; the set up allows the operator to peer into the infeed and get the last possible glimpse of the feedstock before it enters the shredder.

The view from this point of entry allows your operator to adjust the feed to keep the shredder operating right in the sweet spot. Too slow of a feed and you’re giving up productivity, too fast and you risk jams and incomplete shredding.

It’s tempting to place your operator’s chair as close to the mouth of the shredder as possible, and while this position gives the operator the most direct view, one can achieve just as much, if not more, with cameras.

When properly located, a camera can give your operator a near direct view down the throat of your shredder. Additionally, close-up views of the output can give him the information he needs to produce the highest quality shred, as well as knowing when the hammers need replacement.

Not only that, but FLIR cameras, properly utilized, can give your operator a view through the steam produced in a shredder with water injection, while also giving him an intuitive sense for the temperature of the machinery, without the need to be staring at dials.

Additional reading on the K2 blog: Infrared Camera Positions for Shredder Infeed.

Operations at a recycling facility can be extremely tough on your assets. Heavy truck and equipment traffic, crowded facilities, dust, water, and debris take a toll on all the machinery on site.

Particularly at the entrances and exits of buildings, it takes only one unwary operator to cause significant damage to both the building and the equipment.

While the answer to damage at a scrap yard is often “armor it up,” when it comes to overhead doors, the answer, unintuitively enough, may be to seek a softer material, such as rubber.

Steel roll up doors have their advantages, but they’re better suited to locations where impact risk is low. Any significant impact to a steel slatted door from vehicles or machinery is likely to bend the slats past the point of repair.

A customer who uses steel doors on their site, for example, was disappointed to learn that only two months after the installation, a door was damaged beyond repair and required replacement of the entire door curtain. They have since switched to rubber doors at many locations.

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Sub-standard scrap poses significant risk to your shredder, people, the surrounding environment — and your entire business. One explosion due to a compressed tank could mean months of closure — or business bankruptcy and closure.

In this blog post, I’ll cover the materials that can wreak havoc with your inbound stream, as well as causing minor to major issues — from a clogged system or broken parts to increased costs and environmental hazards.

Heavy or dense raw material

“Heavies” are raw materials that are simply too heavy in size and density/mass and therefore can’t be easily shredded. Heavies inevitably damage internal components of your shredder, including castings such as hammers and pins, and material handling systems.

Damage from heavies can cause prolonged periods of downtime and safety risks to operations personnel when replacing damaged components.

Damaged wear part (upper left) due to “heavies.”

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Excessive moisture in your shredding process is an ongoing challenge. Lessening the amount of moisture can have a significant improvement on your bottom line, especially during weather-related inclement months.

Excessive moisture can cause the following issues:

Excessive oxidation
Poor scrap quality of FE (ferrous) and NF (non-ferrous) is mostly associated with excessive oxidation of the finished product, and represents yield loss for the end consumer.

Most domestic FE and NF scrap is consumed within the period when it’s transferred from the processer to the end consumer – generally within 30 days or less.

When this material is shipped internationally via export container or bulk vessel, however, the travel time from processor to end consumer is increased by an average of one (1) to two (2) months – causing a lot more oxidation to take place and yield loss for the consumer.

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Readers of this blog know we’re advocates for regular shredder maintenance. In the July/August issue of Metals Recycling, Ken McEntee interviews several people in the industry about this very topic.

In his well-researched piece, “Wear Parts Awareness,” McEntee discusses what are wear parts, product improvements over the last 15 or so years, and why inspection and maintenance are essential. He also covers buying wear parts (know your vendor!) as well as last year’s tariff exclusion on shredder parts from China.

But, back to shredder maintenance. As quoted in McEntee’s piece, shredder operators run wear parts as long as possible — which reduces shredder efficiencies and profitability.

My advice that I share with readers: “set your benchmarks for shred density, metals recovery rates and ferrous tons per hour. Schedule your maintenance to stay within those limits.”

You can find the July/August issue at the Metals Recycling website. You can also subscribe to print issue, which is free!

ISRI 2023 featured a moderated panel discussion, “Spotlight on Copper.” Panelists included John Gross, John E. Gross Consulting, and publisher of The Copper Journal; David Schilberg, Metal Buyer, Prime Materials Recovery; and Matt Bedingfield, President of Recycling, Wieland N.A. Recycling.

John Gross led the discussion with a presentation of detailed charts. The U.S. is seeing a resurgence in copper recycling – as well as secondary smelting facilities being built.

Global competition for copper will increase, with China indicating that they plan on increasing their import of the material. According to Gross’ data, China is the scrap market. China imports 32% of the world’s scrap – while the U.S. exports 18%.

Figure 1: © The Copper Journal

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Global manufacturers have set ambitious targets for using recycled materials to meet sustainability goals. According to Boston Consulting Group, Coca-Cola wants to use 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030; General Motors wants to increase its share of sustainable materials to 50% or more this decade. (Source)

For a company like Coca-Cola, using recycled aluminum for its beverage cans makes sense: the material requires about 5% of the energy needed to produce new aluminum, plus aluminum can be recycled infinitely.

Nespresso is another company using recycled aluminum to meet sustainability goals.

Nespresso Coffee Capsules: 80% recycled aluminum

© Nespresso

Nespresso, a B-Corp owned by Nestlé, has always focused on reducing waste and reusing product materials.

In 1991, the company created a recycling program that allowed its customers to return used coffee capsules – either to a Nespresso store or by mailing them in – versus tossing them in the trash. (In fact, the current coffee machines have mechanisms that eject the used capsules into a built-in holding container.)

In 2020, Nespresso announced the launch of its first coffee capsules made using 80% aluminum. Today, the entire coffee line incorporates recycled aluminum, and the company’s recycling efforts include 100,000 collection points worldwide for the capsules.

In addition, the company is the co-founder of the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative, which is focused on the “responsible production, sourcing, and stewardship in the global aluminum value chain.” (Source)

To learn more about the company and its environmental commitment, visit: https://nestle-nespresso.com

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From food products touting “made with 100% renewable energy” to clothing items made from recycled plastic, consumer products manufacturers now proudly proclaim their stewardship of the environment via their sustainable manufacturing processes.

Vermont Coffee: Roasted with 100% renewable energy

Environmental sustainability isn’t new: recycling scrap metal is the forerunner of the current movement. And today, metal recyclers are just as “earth friendly,” with processes that use less energy and generate fewer pollutants.

Recycled material is vital to our supply chain. U.S. steelmakers, for example, rely on recycled iron and steel to produce new steel. In 2019, U.S. steel mills consumed more than 60 million metric tons of the recycled material to produce 87 metric tons of steel. (Source: ISRI)

Producing new material from recycled scrap provides many environmental benefits: Using recycled material requires 60% less energy and reduces CO2 emissions by 58% when compared to producing steel from virgin materials. (Source: ditto)

When you think of steel, however, you generally picture steel beams, plates, tubing, etc. – the heavy material used for buildings, bridges, roads, signage, industrial products, etc. or perhaps vehicles and appliances.

But you may not be aware that more of the products we use every day contain recycled steel – and that manufacturers are touting their use of the material as a way to meet their environmental sustainability goals.

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K2’s new line of recycling stars installed © K2 Castings

Our mantra has always been, “Wear Tough, Runs Long.” Whether times are tough or not, costs matter. We’re now bringing that same focus to plastic wear parts.

As the owner or operator, you’re constantly tasked with doing more with fewer people, stretching maintenance periods, and looking for the most competitive prices.

You also have to keep on top of trends and technology changes that improve efficiencies. With advances in single stream municipal recycling, larger scrap yards are now experimenting with roll screens for improved ferrous recovery.

Our customers in the recycling space are beginning to work with roll screens in sizing non-ferrous and fluff for the processing side of their operations. Roll screens have a major advantage due to their ease of adjustability in dealing with compressible products.

As with everything in metals recycling, adapting technologies used elsewhere has its drawbacks too.

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