Industry context · editorial draft
Copper's recycling footprint: useful context, not a demand forecast
USGS estimates scrap contributed about 30% of US copper supply in 2025.
What USGS actually reports
Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 estimates 160,000 metric tons of copper recovered from old post-consumer scrap and 760,000 metric tons recovered from new manufacturing scrap in 2025. It reports that scrap contributed about 30% of US copper supply. The figures are copper content, not gross incoming scrap weight.
Old and new scrap are not interchangeable labels
The USGS definitions distinguish post-consumer material from scrap generated during fabrication. A gross-weight quote cannot be inferred from these national copper-content totals. Grade and recoverable content still need to be established for a particular load.
The business hypothesis remains unproven
Material economic activity establishes that the topic matters to an industry. It does not establish that independent recyclers will pay for another newsletter. Our proposed differentiation is concise public-source context and quote economics, not exclusive prices. The public sources cited here do not validate willingness to pay for this newsletter. No audience size or revenue figures are claimed.
Sources, checked November 11, 2026 (MT)
General educational material. Verify contract terms and source dates. Not legal, safety, tax or investment advice.