COPPER CABLING
naturally gains commercially by winning
additional work and adding to their
reputation. By brokering the whole
process, responsible manufacturers
such as Brand-Rex further improve the
sustainability of their own operations
by avoiding the environmental impact
of virgin mining, helping to conserve
natural resources and securing future
supplies of raw material.
Circular Economy
Urban mining is not just a nice idea, but a practical reality
where the first separations were made.
These containers were then collected
from site by recycling partner and
waste management specialist Van
Gansewinkel, and transported to a
recycling facility in Helden where they
were processed to be recycled. A massive
91 per cent of the products retrieved
(mainly consisting of power cables and
unshielded twisted pair copper cable)
were successfully recycled and converted
to small granules for sale on the open
market. Some of the newer cabling
that was still fully functional and with
remaining warranty was retested and
reused. Any materials that were unfit for
recycling or reuse - in the main plastics
- were incinerated to generate new
energy, so nothing was sent to landfill.
The entire project achieved a positive
revenue stream after all costs were
deducted; with the result that Essent’s
original budget for the project remained
unused. Essent and Brand-Rex
reinvested this sum into sponsoring the
‘An Innovative Truth’ energy efficient
ICT programme and also donated five
solar panels via 1miljoenwatt.nl to the
‘Playing for Success’ initiative, which
encourages confidence in 9-14 year olds
through football.
48 NETCOMMS europe Volume V Issue 6 2015
Win-Win All Round
The Essent experience was an
important milestone in proving that the
economics of removing and recycling
redundant copper can be profitable
right through the supply chain –
creating a commercial benefit for the
building owner and providing recovered
and recycled copper at a competitive
price back into the manufacturing
process.
It shows that with the right approach,
a building or data centre owner can
achieve a cost-neutral result and
leave their decommissioning budget
untouched with a project that pays for
itself. If they’re able to make a surplus
they can reinvest it in a higher level of
infrastructure or give something back to
a local community project or one with
even wider benefits – a valuable boost
for corporate reputation quite apart
from giving the satisfaction of doing the
right thing.
The installer can gain too by being
paid for the labour involved in removing
old material as well as installing new
cabling. Their reputation also stands
to be enhanced by being able to offer
a wider and environmentally useful
service. The recycling company
How likely is that the philosophy of
urban mining will take off and become
a reality? If we look at the precedent
of aluminium can recycling, the omens
are good. Some 40 per cent of used
cans now go back into the aluminium
raw material chain. The challenge is
to apply the same simple principle to
the commercial world and the way it
sees its usage of copper. There’s no
loss of quality suffered through copper
recycling and with metals generally
easier to melt and reform than plastics,
our ambition should ideally be to
upcycle pre-used copper material into
new products of a higher value. But
we need to be doing it now. If we wait
for others, it will be too late. Natural
resources are under attack. The circular
economy where one person’s waste is
another’s raw material urgently needs to
become our normal way of life rather
than a dream.
Conclusion
If the case for urban mining of copper
seems like a no-brainer, th e argument
for doing the same with gold is even
stronger. Where one tonne of ore is
needed to produce a kilo of copper,
an equivalent tonne will yield just five
grams of the gold that’s needed to make
cable connector pins.
For anyone for whom the idea
of sustainable cabling feels like a
good fit with their ethos, there’s a
real opportunity to get involved in a
collaborative movement that makes
good business as well as environmental
sense. It won’t make millions, but it’s the
right thing to do.
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