Recycling just about anything has become extremely popular these days as more and more people are becoming concerned about the future of the world and the health of the environment. One of the most popular and lucrative materials that is easily recycled is copper. Here are some interesting tidbits about recycling from a scrap copper recycling company in Baltimore MD.
History
- Copper has been in use for thousands of years. In fact, a copper necklace was found in Iraq that has been dated to 8700 B.C. Copper has been used by humans for longer than any other metal.
- Neolithic cavemen used copper as a substitute for stone beginning around 8000 B.C. About 4,000 years later, Egyptians mastered the skill of melting copper and casting it into useful shapes such as weapons and jewelry. Only 500 years after that, the Bronze Age began. This happened when people developed the smelting process.
- The word “copper” finds its origin from the ancient island of Cyprus. This island is where the Romans found all of their copper. In fact, copper was originally called Cyprium, which means “metal of Cyprus.”
Hard Facts
- By recycling copper, 90% of the energy it would take to process copper from virgin ore is saved.
- The United States is second only to Chile in the amount of copper produced annually. In fact, the U.S. is almost entirely self-sufficient when it comes to copper and manufactures nearly 10% of the world’s supply.
- As of 2014, over 30% of copper in North America was recovered from scrap sources. Most copper wire supply is made from new copper but other places such as ingot makers, foundries, and copper mills rely mainly on recycled copper scrap.
- According to a Scrap Copper Recycling Company in Baltimore MD, new scrap recovery as it pertains to copper comes from computer chips and machine turnings.
Contact us for any questions that pertains to copper scrap recycling. Whether it just be points of interest or if there is a large amount of copper which needs to be recycled, the experts can certainly see to it that all questions are answered honestly and quickly.
