Life cycle assessment of Chilean copper

This paper presents a cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment of copper wire rods production in Chile. Copper wire rods constitute the main raw material in the production of electrical conductors and could be made from fresh copper cathodes or from scrap metals. Wire rods manufacturing is an energy-intensive operation, with significant consumption of electricity and fuels. Two manufacturing processes were considered here, namely, the Contirod® technology for the continuous melting, casting and drawing of copper wire rod, and the Upcast® technology for oxygen-free copper rod. Production and transport of copper cathodes and fuels, as well as electricity generation and transmission were included within the system boundaries. Three sources of copper materials were considered in this study: copper cathodes from electro-wining and smelters, and copper scraps. Primary data for process yields and energy consumption was obtained from local plants. Results show that most environmental loads were associated with the production of copper cathodes, and inventories were highly dependent on the source of electricity. These results were discussed under the light of PCR requirements for such products.