Environmental implications of future copper demand and supply in Europe

Copper is the third metal by production volume after iron and aluminium, but its wide use in modern technology can be affected by high vulnerability to supply restriction due to the anticipated mine production peak. Securing access to copper forms is of particular importance for countries highly depending on imports, notably many EU Member States. Recycling of postconsumer scrap can help to reduce Europe’s reliance on natural reserves and to reduce the environmental impacts associated with primary copper production, but end-of-life management of copper scrap is far from perfect recycling performance. In this work, we combined material flow analysis, scenario analysis and life cycle assessment to explore the possible evolution of copper demand in the EU-28 to 2050 and discussed the potentials for energy savings and climate mitigation achievable under the creation of a circular economy in the EU-28.