General Introduction To Copper
A. Copper Attribute
Copper is most common metal just after gold and is early found by ancient people. As the first metal to be used for production, copper has an abundant reserve as a natural resource.
Copper is one of the best pure metals featured by strong hardness and toughness, wear-resistance, ductility and malleability.
B. Wide Application Of Copper
Copper is nonferrous metal which has a close relationship to human and wide applied to electric industry, light industry, machinery manufacturing, building industry, defence industry and etc.
1. In electric and electronics industry, copper is the most widely applied and consumed metal, mainly for the winding of cable, wire, motor and transformer.
2. In machinery manufacturing, copper is most used for industrial valve, mold, heating exchangers, etc.
3. In defence industry, copper is essential metal for making bullets and gun parts.
4. In building industry, copper is used to make pipeline, spare parts of pipeline and some decoration parts.
Consumption Percentage Of Copper
Electronic (including communication) 48%
Building 24%
General engineering 12%
Traffic by 7%
Others 9%
The Past & Futurer Of Copper Recycling
A. Past Situation
For thousands of years, copper and copper alloys have been recycled. This has been a normal economic practice. One of the wonders of the old world, the Colossus of Rhodes, a statue spanning the entrance to Rhodes Harbour, was said to have been made of copper. No trace of it remains since it was recycled to make useful artifact. In the Middle Ages it was common that after a war the bronze cannons were melted down to make more useful items. But in times of war even church bells were used to produce cannon.
B. Current Situation
In modern times, metal recycling industry is more prosperous and popular. Copper, as a very common and most widely used metal, is in urgent demand all the time. Because there are lots of limitations to copper refinery, copper recycling is a very economic and efficient way to meed the increasing demand. Firstly, by recycling copper, we can reduce landfill areas produced by burying the scrape copper. Secondly, by recycling copper, the cost is greatly reduced. Compared with refining the pure copper from the copper core, the copper recycling process is more simple and much easier. Thirdly, recycling copper can help us to protect earth. Copper recycling can not only reduce landfills but also avoid the toxic gas.
