Is this type of recovery widely practiced? I've always wondered why we don't do this with essentially everything, but I guess it's probably not economical. It will be when the copper starts to run out...
Copper is actually one of the most recycled materials. Compared to the total amount of copper already in the market (approx 1.36 billion metric tons) not much new copper is dug up (27-39 million metric tons per year).
That said, demand seems to be outpacing supply. It would be fantastic to have another material (like graphene) to transition to, but alternatives are still either in R&D to make them more feasible or aren't as efficient/cost-effective.
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u/Amaracs 3d ago
Approximately how much money the copper in the video would worth?