As the need for copper rises, cable manufacturers recycle more

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT
Associated Press

MONTREAL (AP) — In an industrial suburb of Montreal, sheets of copper move along a conveyor belt suspended four stories above the floor of a foundry — a metals plant — until they drop into a lava-hot furnace. Next come pieces of discarded copper wire. One of the world’s largest wire and cable manufacturers is mixing more copper scrap into its products these days — its copper rods contain about 14% recycled content. The copper industry has been reusing some degree of the metal for many years. Now it’s stepping up efforts as the need for copper is projected to nearly double by 2035.