Sustainable metal management exemplified by copper in the USA

Abstract

A sustainable management of nonrenewable metals calls for scienti®c-ecological understanding of the regional material household. The copper household in the USA between 1900 and 2100 was chosen to illustrate mathematical modelling of such systems. Relatively limited and inaccurate sets of data already allow a ®rst approximation of the metal management system. The copper¯uxes of the 20th century have contributed to the formation of two new ore deposits of the same order of magnitude as the currently still available reservoir (90 million tons), i.e. copper stock in consumption products (approx. 70 million tons) and in land®lls (approx. 40 million tons). Thè`l and®ll'', therefore, contains copper whose potential use is lost due to dilution. The long-term copper consumption stock is greater than the shortterm stock. Scenarios show that the current economically mineable Cu-stocks will be exhausted in 30 to 50 years if a change in the existing management system does not occur. In case of a reorientation, the use of copper as a``new resource'' in the consumption stocks appears to be the most promising strategy. The future waste management processes will have to increase their copper recycling rates.

Exploring the engine of anthropogenic iron cycles

“…Zeltner et al (8) were the first to quantify resource stocks in all relevant compartments and thereby put primary-and secondary-resource reservoirs on equal footing; however, they neglected trade flows, which severely restricts accuracy. In general, little attention has been paid so far to the analysis and interpretation of temporal patterns of resource stocks in use.…”

“…Top-down approaches have been used to roughly quantify historic in-use stocks of copper in the United States (U.S.), North America, and Switzerland (4,6,8,9); timber in Switzerland (3); and minerals in The Netherlands (5). Zeltner et al (8) were the first to quantify resource stocks in all relevant compartments and thereby put primary-and secondary-resource reservoirs on equal footing; however, they neglected trade flows, which severely restricts accuracy.…”

Analysis of the Quantity and Average Age of Copper in-Use Stock in the U.S. from 1985 to 2014

“…In this paper, the copper in-use stock in the United States is analyzed by the average use life method and fixed assets depreciation method. For these two methods, the average use life of copper products should be known, in fact, it is difficult to be determined, because the copper content is amounts to approximately 10 years, and the average lifetime of copper in long-term products is assumed to vary between 30 and 70 years [19]. The different assume of the lifespan, the results may be different.…”

Analysis of Time-Dependent Mercury Flows Through the Use of Thermometers and Sphygmomanometers in Thailand

“…MMFA has been applied in many studies fields for environmental management: Zeltner et a. [17]; Binder et al [19]; Sörme and Lagerkvist [20]; Bader et al [24]; Huang et al [25]; Kwonpongsagoon et al [26]; Schaffner et al [27]; Bader et al [28]; Wongsoonthornchai et al [29].…”

“…Time-dependent models are used to investigate the development of the system including stocks and flows of goods over longer time spans in order to understand the development of stocks and flows over time and are often used for environmental management. Time-dependent models have been applied for different products and different scales such as country level for metals [17], [20], [21] and housing [18], on city level for durable goods [19], and on farm level for resources [22].…”