Perhaps because it can make for attention-getting reading, recently change often has been presented as disruption. When rapid change comes to an economic sector, however, it is fair to consider not only the losers but also the winners.

A study conducted on behalf of the New York-based International Copper Association (ICA), released in June 2017, points to a change that seems poised to boost demand for copper.

A fact sheet summarizing that study, “The Electric Vehicle Market and Copper Demand,” has been posted to the ICA’s website and provides key conclusions reached by IDTechEx, the United Kingdom-based firm that conducted the study.

The researchers concluded that global demand for hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) will grow rapidly between 2017 and 2027, spurred not only by green-minded consumers but also by public transportation providers seeking busses with reduced tailpipe emissions.

IDTechEx has concluded that “by 2027, an estimated 27 million EVs will be on the road, up from 3 million in 2017. This will raise copper demand in EVs from 185,000 metric tons in 2017 to 1.74 million metric tons in 2027.”

“While the average internal combustion car contains about 50 pounds of copper, hybrid and pure EVs contain from around 90 to 180 pounds.”

A forecast is not a precise road map to the future, and there are factors that could cause the actual number of EVs purchased by 2027 to fall short of the prediction. As this is written from northeast Ohio in mid-June, gasoline sits at about $2.14 per gallon. That is not a price to prompt some American consumers to make the switch.

Skeptics of the ecological value of EVs also can point to the notion that plugging a car into the grid is not necessarily a flight away from fossil fuels. In some parts of the world, that grid continues to be powered by coal, so drivers are merely swapping one fossil fuel for another.

Those criticisms notwithstanding, there appears to be widespread global momentum toward EVs, and this can be appealing especially to environmentally minded consumers in cases where electricity providers have made commitments to renewable energy.

For copper producers and recyclers, this demand trend represents “change they can believe in,” as EVs contain more copper per vehicle and also rely on copper-laden charging stations.

While the average internal combustion car contains about 50 pounds of copper, hybrid and pure EVs contain from around 90 to 180 pounds. Each charging station can consume from 1.5 to 17 pounds of copper (depending on the speed of the charge).

Should the forecast be close to the mark, nonferrous metals recyclers could be pleased with the added demand from producers and ideally would have more scrap to handle in the approaching decades.

Shelling out sustainability

Every day, restaurants throw away tons of food. A recently formed partnership aims to offer sustainable solutions to divert food waste from landfills. The Alabama Coastal Foundation (ACF), Mobile, Alabama, and Republic Services Inc., Phoenix, are supporting the Alabama Oyster Shell Recycling Program. Funded through a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the program helps to support the sustainable growth and rehabilitation of oyster harvests in Alabama, as well as the livelihood of the fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico.

With 28 restaurants currently committed to the program and plans to expand that number this year, ACF partners with Republic to collect oyster shells from coastal restaurants three times per week. The collected shells are transported to the Alabama Marine Resources Division, where they undergo a curing process. Once ready, the repurposed shells are then deposited in designated locations along the Alabama coast to become the building blocks of newly restored oyster beds.

EveryOneCan

This summer, Coors Brewing says it is continuing its tradition of sustainability by introducing EveryOneCan, a summer-long program that underscores the commitment everyone can make to sustainability.

EveryOneCan is a nationwide program built on the principle that everyone, from brewers to bartenders to consumers, can and should strive to practice environmental stewardship. All drinkers should recycle their aluminum cans, according to the program.

Working with TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, and other partners, Coors Brewing says it will reduce environmental impact in a variety of ways, including by rewarding consumers with cooler bags made from recycled vinyl advertisements and grills made from recycled kegs.

Think outside the box

Moving into a new home requires much time and in most cases many cardboard boxes. In an effort to reduce cardboard generated during new homeowners’ moves, San Ramon, California-based TRI Pointe Homes’ Northern California Division has launched its Think Outside the Box program. The community reuse and recycling effort will be rolled out across all 12 of TRI Pointe Northern California’s currently active for-sale communities.

New homeowners are given the locations of the pickup/drop-off points at the recycling centers in their communities to pick up boxes. Once the homeowners have used the boxes, they can break them down and return them to the community recycling centers for use by future homeowners. 

The Think Outside the Box program was designed to help reduce the amount of waste associated with the moving process. – TRI Pointe Homes

June 19-20 Tire & Rubber Summit 2017, King City, Ontario, Tire and Rubber Association of Canada, www.tracanada.ca/events_2/tire_and_rubber_summit_2017.html

June 26-28 Steel Survival Strategies XXXII, New York, American Metal Market Events and World Steel Dynamics, www.amm.com/events/amm-steel-success-strategies/details.html

June 27-29 Refocus Sustainability & Recycling Summit, Orlando, Florida, Plastics Industry Association, www.refocussummit.org

June 27-29 Recycling Metals from Industrial Waste, Golden, Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, http://csmspace.com/events/recycmetals

July 17-20 ISRI Summer Board of Directors and Committee Meeting, Washington, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, http://bit.ly/2pBOznS

July 26-28 27th Annual Recycling & Organics Conference, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania, https://prrp.memberclicks.net/2017-conference-information

Aug. 20-23 California Resource Recovery Association Annual Conference, Sacramento, California, CRRA, www.crra.com/conference

Aug. 23-25 Agricultural Plastics Recycling Conference & Trade Show, San Diego, Southern Waste Information eXchange, http://agplasticconference.com

Aug. 28-30 Resource Recycling Conference, Minneapolis, Resource Recycling, http://rrconference.com

Sept. 6-8 ISRI Commodities Roundtable, Chicago, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, http://bit.ly/2qjp8Xb

Sept. 6-8 2017 International Roundtable on Auto Recycling, Niagara Falls, Ontario, Automotive Recyclers of Canada and Automotive Recyclers Association, http://irt-autorecycling.org

Sept. 17-20 26th GRC Annual Conference, St. Simons Island, Georgia, Georgia Recycling Coalition, http://bit.ly/2pBZH46

Sept. 18-20 27th ARC Conference & Trade Show, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, Arkansas Recycling Coalition, www.recycleark.org/arcs-annual-conference-trade-show

Sept. 18-20 E-Scrap 2017, New Orleans, Orlando, Florida, www.e-scrapconference.com

Sept. 25-27 International Solid Waste Association World Congress, Baltimore, International Solid Waste Association, www.iswa2017.org

Sept. 25-27 Wastecon, Baltimore, Solid Waste Association of North America, https://swana.org/Events/WASTECON.aspx

Sept. 28 RECOUP Plastics Recycling Conference 2017, Peterborough, U.K., Recycling of Used Plastics Ltd., www.recoup.org/conference-2017