Boliden launches low-carbon copper products
LONDON – Sweden's Boliden said it has launched two "green" copper products this week, the first of its kind, hoping to appeal to consumers aiming to cut their carbon footprint.
The two copper cathode products - one sourced from recycled electronic scrap, the other from reduced-emissions mining - will have less than half the average carbon dioxide emissions of traditionally mined copper, Martin Eriksson, copper sales manager, said on Friday.
The main spotlight on cutting emissions from industrial metals so far has been aluminium due to its very energy-intensive production, but copper's wide use makes it important as well, he added.
Copper, the third most consumed industrial metal after iron and aluminium, is used in electric cabling, construction and increasingly in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
"The mining part of copper is the big polluter when it comes to CO2, but in our mines, the main source of energy is hydro electricity," Eriksson told Reuters in an interview.
"We're also expanding our initiative in our high tech mines with electrified vehicles."
About half of Boliden's annual output of 350 000 t of copper cathode will be marketed as low carbon.
Both are guaranteed to have less than 1.5 kg of CO2 per kg of metal, compared to an average of about 4 kg for traditionally mined copper, according to independent certification firm Intertek.
That incorporates scope one, two and three emissions, including indirect levels, for example from the production of explosives used for blasting at open pit mines.
Emissions from the recycled product would be lower if it was sourced from pure copper scrap, but it comes from old electronics, and includes plastic, Eriksson said.
So far Boliden is only getting a small premium for its green copper products, but this has scope to increase as pressure grows on companies to cut their emissions, he added.
Comments
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation