Waste and scrap flows in the UK: assessing copper and tungsten

Critical minerals are those crucial for a variety of modern technologies, infrastructure and industries but have global supply risks which need careful assessment to inform policy options and possible mitigations. This study was delivered by the United Kingdom (UK) Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre (CMIC) which is funded by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and hosted by the British Geological Survey (BGS). CMIC’s primary objective is to support the UK Government’s ambitions around resilient and sustainable critical minerals supply chains for the UK economy and needs. The principal aims of this study were twofold: to assess copper and tungsten waste and scrap flows in the UK economy and to explore available economic and trade data to better understand how this could be used to inform circularity of resource use in the UK. Copper was chosen as a metal with widespread use but, given its diversified global supply, is not designated a critical mineral for the UK (whilst acknowledging concerns about the future of global copper mine supplies). Tungsten was chosen as it is designated a critical mineral for the UK; it has a concentrated global supply chain (dominated by China), the UK has one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits (at Hemerdon in Devon) but parts of its supply chain remain an enigma due to poor data resolution. The study demonstrates that for copper there are significant opportunities to reduce substantial copper losses contained in waste and scrap exports. Current exports of copper waste and scrap are valued at £1.06 billion yet the contained copper is worth £1.45 billion. This means that the UK is not capturing the value that the secondary copper resource represents, providing a major opportunity to improve the circularity of copper in the UK. At present, there are no refinery facilities to process secondary copper waste and scrap in the UK, meaning this is an important way that the UK could improve the circularity of its copper use. For tungsten, the study has shown that various uncertainties or inconsistencies remain in the available data, but the amounts of tungsten are typically modest and finding clear opportunities for improving circularity requires further research (especially extensive stakeholder engagement, collaboration and data synthesis). The cases of copper and tungsten in the UK demonstrate that there are potentially significant opportunities for future improvement, including increased collection, separation, and functional recycling, as well as product development to reduce dissipation loss. Also, the waste and scrap from manufacturing processes may be managed in such a way that it can be kept for future use as a resource if new technology makes recycling it possible. This study presents unique case studies on the current flows of copper and tungsten to and from the UK economy. The results provide a strong basis for demonstrating the benefits of improving circularity through new infrastructure, such as a secondary copper refinery. They also identify areas where more detailed research is needed, for example, tungsten circularity.