Metals
Copper recycling plant
Copper scrap and cable sorted, granulated, melted and refined into ingots, rods or cathode-grade copper.
Copper scrap keeps its value because refined copper is the same metal whichever route it took. A secondary-copper plant grades incoming scrap, strips and granulates cable to separate copper from insulation, melts and fire-refines the metal, and casts ingots, billets or continuous-cast rod; electrolytic refining is the next step for cathode grade. It was the first model plant prepared and the template for the others.
- Feed
- Bare bright and mixed copper scrap, insulated cable, motors and transformer windings, from dealers, industry and imports under licence.
- Capacity modelled
- Sized to the scrap a promoter can secure; the model plant is adapted to your feed mix and product.
Products and buyers
Copper ingots and billets
Alloy makers, foundries, extruders
Continuous-cast copper rod
Wire and cable makers
Copper granules
Direct melting; sold or used in-house
Plastic insulation fractions
Registered plastic recyclers or co-processing
02Process
How the plant works.
- 01Receiving and grading
- 02Cable stripping and granulation
- 03Sorting and baling
- 04Melting
- 05Fire refining
- 06Casting
- 07Testing and dispatch
- OUTCopper ingots and billets
- OUTContinuous-cast copper rod
- OUTCopper granules
03Rules
What shapes the plant.
- Pollution-board consent for the furnace, with fume extraction and bag-house filtration; the category depends on the furnace and refining route.
- Imports of copper scrap follow the Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules and BIS quality-control orders where applicable.
- Scrap grading and weighbridge discipline matter for GST and for the metal balance.
04Viability
What decides whether it pays.
- 01The discount to LME at which scrap can be bought, against the premium the product earns.
- 02Metal recovery and melt loss through the furnace.
- 03Energy per tonne and the fuel or power route.
- 04Working capital: copper is expensive to hold.
05The report
What the copper recycling report covers.
A model-plant report exists for this plant type. A site-specific version replaces its assumptions with your feed, prices, quotes and location, and is written to be taken to a lender.
- Plastic & Rubber Recycling Solutions
- Equipment Selection & Advisory
- Greenfield / Brownfield Project Execution
- Plant Layout Advisory
- Executive summaryThe plant at a glance: capacity, products, project cost, returns and the decision it supports.
- Market and regulationFeed availability, buyers and prices, the rules that create or restrict demand.
- Site, capacity and productsLocation logic, plant size, product mix and specifications buyers will accept.
- Process and technologyThe route chosen and why, with a process flow and material balance.
- Machinery and utilitiesEquipment list with ratings and quantities, power, water, fuel and manpower.
- Environment and approvalsPollution-board category, emissions and effluent controls, licences and EPR registration.
- Capital and operating costBuilt bottom-up: land, civil, machinery, electricals, pollution control, pre-operative costs.
- Financials and sensitivityFive-year P&L, project financing, debt service, payback, and what moves the result.
- Risks and open questionsWhat must be confirmed with quotes, buyers and the regulator before money is committed.
Related plants
Other plant types
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Crumb rubber
End-of-life tyres shredded, rasped and milled into chips, granules and powder, with the steel recovered.
Open - Tyres & rubber
Reclaim rubber
Crumb devulcanised under heat and pressure into sheets that compounders mix with virgin rubber.
Open - Tyres & rubber
Tyre pyrolysis oil
Shredded tyres heated without oxygen into industrial fuel oil, char and steel, in a continuous plant.
Open
Planning a copper recycling plant?
A short message is enough to start: the waste stream, the location, the scale you are thinking of, and where you are in the decision. We reply within one business day.