Econometric modeling of recycled copper supply

Abstract

The supply of recycled material depends on historic consumption, i.e. what constitutes scrap available today originates from previously made products. Analytical tools, such as materials flow analysis, use this observation to estimate scrap metal flows. The supply of recycled metal also depends on changing economic conditions, e.g. metal consumption rates correlate with changes in gross domestic product. We use an autoregressive distributed lag approach to model the supply of recycled copper as a complementary approach to material flow analysis. We find that both industrial activity and world GDP correlate with total scrap supply, with limited dependence on copper price. We also develop independent models for direct remelt (higher quality) and refined (lower quality) scrap. A 1% increase in industrial production leads to a 2.1% increase in higher quality scrap quantity, while a similar increase in world GDP leads to a 1.4% increase in lower quality scrap. Based on this model dependence, we suggest that a recycling policy aimed at increasing recycling through the use of subsidies, taxes or price incentives should be directed towards the low-end segment of the scrap market and there it may still only have limited impact.

Emission impacts of China’s solid waste import ban and COVID-19 in the copper supply chain

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Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Generation Z in the Context of the Concept of Homo Socio-Oeconomicus

“…In this study, we define pro-environmental behavior as behavior through which individuals consciously seek to minimize the negative impact of their actions on the natural environment, including both positive environmentally friendly actions (e.g., recycling, minimizing resource and energy consumption, use of non-toxic substances, reducing waste production), as well as avoiding actions that harm the environment (e.g., not using disposable bags in supermarkets). The literature provides similar definitions of the term "pro-environmental behavior" [17,27] and the proposed list of pro-environmental behaviors includes a number of actions, such as recycling [28][29][30][31][32], innovations and forms of using means of transport [33], waste management [34][35][36], reduction of energy consumption [37], purchase of ecological products [38] and energy-saving electric appliances [39]. Various categories of these behaviors are distinguished.…”

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